Swords And Bows
by TheSilentSwordsman
Summary: When Shino Asada is trapped inside of the death game Sword Art Online , she must fight with the one partner she trusts to make it out alive. KiritoxSinon fic. T just to be safe. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online, or the cover photo. Writing quality increases exponentially as you read on.
1. A New Beginning

**A/N:** So here it is! My first story. Hope you guys like it!

* * *

One - A New Beginning

* * *

Shino Asada didn't feel particularly lucky as she held the clumsy device. Three large letters were printed where they were clearly visible. NVG; the Nervegear. A feeling of worry and dread pursued her thoughts, as she let them run wild. _Virtual reality_ _… Sounded too good to be true… At the time._ She had hoped it would help her escape her reality when she signed up for the beta test.. Her broken, fearful reality. She shook herself out of her depressing thoughts, and instead looked over to the box that was now sitting on her desk. On the box, in big blue letters, were the words [Sword Art Online], the first VRMMORPG to be released for the Nervegear. As Shino put on the helmet, she checked the clock in the upper left corner of the translucent screen. 12:58. The servers would be starting soon.

"Link start!"

The familiar rush of colour, light and sound invaded her senses. She had participated in the 2 month-long beta test, and had become one of the strongest players, reaching floor 30, alongside a few other players, though since she was a solo player, she didn't really know any of them too well. As feeling returned to the rest of her body, she opened her eyes to the same snowy blue strands of hair that had greeted her for the duration of the beta test.

As Sinon made her way to the NPC shop to buy some basic gear with her starting cash, she marvelled at all of the players in the «Town of Beginnings». The beta test had only contained about a thousand players, while as far as she knew, the full release of the game was populated by around 10,000. She needed to keep to herself, lest her past become known to the general public… Then it would be just like real life. Nobody would talk to her. Nobody would even look at her without scowling or sneering.

* * *

Kazuto had been waiting eagerly for 1:00 pm, as it was when the SAO servers started. Under the username [Kirito], he had become known as the best player in the beta test. Only he had made it up to floor 34, managing to defeat bosses only with parties of 10 or so other players.

The clock turned to 1:00, and Kirito logged into Sword Art Online. After he went through the motions of getting some basic gear, he decided to get in some basic grinding.

Meeting a frenzy boar, the simple floor 1 mob, Kirito settled into a familiar stance. Pulling his small sword up and holding it behind his head, as if resting it on his shoulder, his sword started to glow a light blue. As the boar charged, Kirito executed a perfect «Vertical», cutting the boar in half lengthwise. Kirito flourished his sword and inserted into the sheath on his back. While Kirito examined the window, he heard a voice call out to him.

"Oi! You look like you know what you're doing! Could you show me how to play?" A redheaded man yelled.

"Hmm? Yeah. Sure!" Kirito responded. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Klein."

"Kirito. Nice to meet you."

* * *

Klein and Kirito spent the rest of the afternoon training, Kirito trying to show Klein how to use basic swipes, thrusts, and sword skills.

"Oof!" Klein was head-butted in the stomach by one of the boars, and was sent flying.

"Come on Klein, you can't get good like that!" Kirito remarked, as he performed a simple «Slant», killing the monster in one hit.

"Whew! What was that, a mid level field boss or something?" Klein asked, exhausted.

"It's the lowliest monster you'll ever fight…" Kirito said. "It would equate to a slime in most other RPG games…"

"Seriously?!" Klein seemed genuinely surprised. "Well, thanks for the training, I'm sure it'll be useful! Anyway… I've got a pizza coming in about 5 minutes so…"

"No, it's alright," Kirito nodded. "See you later, hopefully." He turned around to take in the view from where they were standing, on a cliff's edge.

"Kirito, total noob question…" Klein's voice cut through his thoughts. "How do you log out?"

Looking confused, Kirito turned and opened his menu. "It should be right-" _here?_ Kirito trailed off, as he saw that the button that should've said 'Log out' was blank. Ignoring the panic in the back of his mind, he said, "It must be a glitch, it should be fixed soon."

"Damn it! I hope they fix it before my piz-" Klein couldn't finish, as the two players were engulfed in blue flames.

* * *

When Sinon opened her eyes again, she was standing in the main plaza in the «Town of Beginnings». She heaved a sigh of frustration; she had almost reached level 2 in the fields outside of the town when she was teleported back before the final strike of her dagger.

A sudden change of colour in the surrounding atmosphere made her look up in surprise. Endless red hexagons tiled the sky, with 'WARNING' and 'SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT' written on each one. A thick-looking red liquid poured out from in between the tiles, and it took Sinon a minute to realize that it was blood.

Suddenly, her vision darkened, and all she could see was blood. Blood on her hands, blood on her legs, blood on the walls. Blood on the gun in her hands. The face of the man she had shot becoming gruesome and grotesque, almost like a zombie. Realizing she was crouched down, holding her hands to her ears in the middle of the town plaza, she tried to calm her frantic breathing. _I'm not Shino anymore…_ She thought. _My name is Sinon!_ She silently called out, willing for the blue hair and the dagger on her back to lend her strength.

As her breathing steadied, she decided to stand up. A huge figure, dressed in a red cloak had appeared in the air, floating above the plaza.

The hooded figure raised his arms. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online and the Nervegear. By now, you might've noticed that the log out button is missing from the in-game menu. This is not a glitch, or error. This is a feature of Sword Art Online. I repeat, this is not a fault in the game. It is part of Sword Art Online." Multiple gasps sounded from the crowd.

"All 10,000 players that are logged into SAO right now are trapped in the game." More gasps. "Furthermore, if your HP drops to 0 and you die in the game, the Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

All 10,000 players were silent as what Kayaba had said sunk in. Sinon covered her mouth. _That's not possible… No way!_

Before the crowd could break out in chaos, the hooded figure continued. "You may think, 'That's okay, I'll just wait for someone to take my Nervegear off.' well, that's not an option either. Already experienced by over 200 players, if the removal of the Nervegear is attempted, the Nervegear will emit a high-power microwave, effectively scrambling your brain matter. The only course of action to take is to clear all 100 floors of castle Aincrad. When the floor 100 boss is defeated, the players that remain alive will all be immediately logged out of the game. Now I advise you to all look in your inventories. I've left a present for each and every one of you."

People started looking into their inventories, and taking out the present item. Sinon looked into her inventory. There was an extra entry. «Mirror». As Sinon selected the item, a small hand mirror dropped into her hands, and she was met with her own reflection, albeit with snowy blue hair, and sky blue eyes.

 _What's this supposed to do?_ Sinon wondered, before she saw all the other players being engulfed in blue flames, similar to teleports. Sinon started to feel tingly, and realized it was happened to her too. She temporarily went blind. When she opened her eyes again, they weren't blue. They were a dark brown. Her hair had returned to her natural black.

Sinon's eyes widened, realizing that she now looked like her regular old self. "-Eh?!" She shrieked. Shino had come here to escape her reality, but it seemed like her past followed her everywhere.

"Think of this as the end of the tutorial." The last words of the cloaked figure shook Sinon back to reality. As he dematerialized into blood again and receded into the sky, chaos broke out among the players in the plaza. Cries of indignation, non-believing, and fear could be heard echoing throughout the town. The only thing Sinon could process, was that she had to be strong to survive this death game.

Sinon ran through the Town, sprinting at top speed towards the town's exit. She already knew all the best spots for grinding, and how to become strong. She had the untouchable will to survive.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew! You're through the first chapter. The first thing you'll notice (if you've read _A Different Love Story_ ) is that this fic starts out pretty similar to that one. (Which makes sense because I'm helping to write it, therefore making it a large source of my inspiration.) Like the description said, I kinda want Sinon to be a tsundere-type character in this fic, instead of the usual timid-cute kinda thing. Also, I have no clue how to make the description retain formatting when you save it, so if anyone could tell me how to do that, that'd be wonderful... Which leads us into our next point! Reviews! If you guys like the story, (or dislike the story), feel free to leave a review to compliment my sh*tty writing, or some constructive criticism. Favorite if you really like it... It'll mean a lot to me.

Anyway, I'll try to update every week or two, if you guys are lucky maybe you'll even get 2 a week. Sadly I doubt that'll happen because I'm pretty busy at the moment, but yeah! Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	2. A Meeting

**A/N:** I forgot to mention, I don't own the cover either, so thanks a ton if you're the one who created it! I couldn't find out who it was at the time of downloading it, because the link just redirected me to the generic Google+ page. Anyway, read on, and thanks for supporting!

* * *

Two - A Meeting

* * *

After Kayaba had declared SAO a death game, most of the beta testers had left the Town of Beginnings hurriedly. Of course. They knew all the best places to grind EXP, and where to complete all the simple tests. It was the only logical move in this game of 'survival of the fittest', with only a few selfless beta testers sticking around to help the new players.

Kirito was not one of these people. As soon as the red-cloaked figure disappeared into the sky, he grabbed Klein by the hand and ran to the town's nearest exit. "Hey Klein, I'm heading for the next village, and I want you to come. The only way for us to survive is to get as strong as possible." Kirito said, trying to stay calm. "Once a game like this, an MMORPG, starts up, the amount of credits and EXP are limited. Soon, the fields outside the Town of Beginnings will be hunted clean. I know where to go, and where to avoid."

Klein rubbed the back of his neck, looking torn. "Hey, um… That sounds great, but I've got these friends, and they're back in the plaza. We all stood in line together for 2 nights just to buy this game, and…" Klein trailed off. "And I can't leave them!" He said, more determined than before.

"Okay… If that's what you want, then I'll be off on my way…" Kirito said, feeling slightly disappointed. He had liked Klein. As he turned to leave, Klein's voice stopped him.

"Kirito… You look better like that. Much better than your avatar!" Klein stated.

"And that scruffy face of yours suits you ten times better!" Kirito retorted, before turning and running. He didn't look back.

* * *

 _One Month Later_

* * *

Sinon never expected to spend a month stuck on the first floor. The dungeon had been explored by multiple player groups, yet the boss room had only been found very recently. She was about to attend the meeting arranged by the "strongest" players of the first floor, on how to defeat the boss. Equipping her cloak and sitting high up in the amphitheater, she put her elbows on her knees, and chin in her hands, ready to listen. She was tired of seeing the same old mobs all the time when she went hunting.

The crowd of people gathered at the amphitheater were quietly talking amongst themselves when a blue-haired man stepped onto the stage.

"My name is Diabel, and I'll be running this meeting!" He exclaimed. "As many of you might know, the first boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, has been found!" The players cheered.

Diabel opened a small handbook he had tucked into his armour. "It says here, that Illfang is a large bipedal monster, armed with a battle-axe and a shield. It has 4 health bars, and then he'll switch weapons and attack patterns on the last health bar. Got it?"

"Yeah!" The crowd cheered. Everybody was pumped. Only Sinon seemed worried.

 _I could actually die!_ She suddenly realized. _This boss… Could kill me!_ Her eyes widened. She wouldn't let herself die, not here. Not like this.

"Hold on! We're not done here!" A man with hair shaped in spikes jumped onto the stage.

"K-Kibaou! Tch… What do you want?" Diabel seemed to know him.

"I wanna talk about beta testers!" Kibaou seemed ticked off. "On the first day, all the beta testers just upped and disappeared! Since they already knew all the best EXP farms and easy quests, they grabbed all of them, leaving all us normal players for dead!" Murmurs started around the crowd. It was obvious they were feeling uneasy.

"That's so stupid." A boy with black hair sat down next to Sinon, crossing his arms. He continued, as Sinon scooted away from him. "Us beta testers wrote them a whole guidebook… And those noobs still think we abandoned them…"

 _So he's a beta tester, too?_ Sinon thought. Upon taking a closer look… _He's kinda cute…_ Realizing what she had just said to herself, her cheeks heated up. Thank god for the cloak. "To be fair, the large majority of the beta testers didn't have a thought in their minds about the 9,000 new players, as they hunted the fields clean, and completed all the easy quests first." Sinon said, coldly, ignoring the fact that she too, was a beta tester.

Taken aback by the cloaked girl's harsh comment, Kirito was at a loss for words. "I- I guess…" He said, rubbing the back of his neck clearly feeling guilty. "But they all had the information they needed!" He tried to clear his conscience. "If they had only read the guidebook, they would've done just fine!"

As if on cue, a large man with dark skin stepped onto the stage, and pulled out a book that looked identical to the one Diabel was holding. "Does everybody have one of these?" He asked, in a deep voice. All the players in the amphitheater nodded or issued some form of affirmative answer. "Good." The dark-skinned man said, satisfied. "This is the guidebook, written by none other than the beta testers themselves. You should know just as much as they do, if not more, because a number of info brokers have also contributed! These books were not received by beta testers!" He exclaimed, glaring at Kibaou, before sitting down again.

Not wanting to get into a conflict with the man that was about twice his size, Kibaou could only shut his mouth and follow suit, sitting down as well.

"See? This guy knows what's up," Kirito mumbled, mostly to himself.

"That's no excuse for the actions of the beta testers on that first day. Over 2,000 players have already died." Sinon retorted, again ignoring the fact that she too, was a beta tester. Sensing that the meeting was at a close, she got up and left.

* * *

Kirito wondered what that girl's problem was. She had looked like a nice person, that was, until he sat down to talk to her. The bangs of black hair hanging out of the hood of her cloak had made it obvious that she was a girl. Thinking that she might be less knuckle-headed than most of the guys he had met so far, he had climbed up the stairs in the amphitheater in an attempt to start a conversation with her. _That didn't work out too well…_

* * *

Later that day, Sinon had taken her cloak off and was walking through town when she came across another girl, sitting on her own, eating one of the rolls you could buy cheap from the NPCs. Though Sinon couldn't see her face, she was guessing that the other girl wasn't enjoying it. Sitting down next to her, Sinon pulled out a roll of her own. Instead of taking a bite out of it, however, she opened her inventory once again, and took out a small jar. Tapping the top of the jar, her finger started to glow. The cloaked girl watched in slight awe as Sinon touched her finger to the bread, leaving a dab of a substance that looked like butter. When Sinon was finished, she coolly took a bite out of her roll, before asking, nonchalantly as possible, "Would you like some?"

"-Eh?" Letting out a small squeal at the recognition, the other girl was obviously surprised. Instead of saying anymore, the girl just nodded.

"Go ahead." Sinon said, smiling warmly. There weren't many female players around, so she took pride in helping others whenever she could.

The hooded girl silently mimicked Sinon's actions, putting some cream on her bread. After nibbling on it, she decided she liked the taste of the cream- no, butter, and quickly finished the rest of the bread.

"Thanks." She said, quietly.

"A-ah, it's no problem." Sinon replied. "Hey, I think I saw you at the meeting today… Are you going to the boss fight tomorrow?"

Again, the hooded girl only nodded.

 _Is she strong enough?_ Sinon wondered. The girl still looked as if she was wearing the most basic armour, with a simple rapier strapped to her hip. "I was wondering… Would you like to party up with me? As a rapier user, you must be pretty fast. I think that'd compliment my dagger skills nicely." Sinon finished.

"U-um… okay." The cloaked girl seemed unsure of herself.

"Alright!" Sinon smiled, and sent the other girl a friend request, so she would be able to find her more easily the day after.

The other girl's finger hovered above the accept button as she hesitated. _I can trust her… Plus, I need a team, or I might die…_ She thought. Biting her lip, she pressed the blue circle, indicating her acceptance. "I need to go now…" She said, before quietly getting up, and disappearing into the shadows.

Once the hooded girl was gone, Sinon checked her friend list. _Asuna, huh?_

* * *

Kirito had just finished eating his meagre supper, and was sitting on a bench just outside the inn he was staying at. Suddenly, he noticed a girl walking on the road, with familiar bangs of black hair. "Hey!" He called. As she turned around, her face soured as she saw the boy she had hoped to avoid for the rest of her time in the game. _*Gulp* Even like that… She's pretty!_ Kirito noted.

Sinon exhaled a loud sigh. "What do you want?" She said, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Well I just saw you walk past, and I realized, I never got your name." Kirito managed to get through the sentence without stuttering.

"Who said I wanted to tell you my name?" Sinon replied, coldly.

"Please? My name's Kirito." The boy persisted.

 _He's not gonna let me go until I tell him, huh?_ Sinon realized. _He's persistent, that much I'll give him._ "Ugh. Fine. It's Sinon, but I don't expect that you'll be using it very much." She said, glaring at him.

"Eheh…" Kirito laughed humourlessly, in resignation. "Nice to meet you…" He suddenly wanted to shrink to the size of an ant.

"Yeah… Whatever." Sinon mumbled, as she sidestepped Kirito, and walked into the inn.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yay! 2nd chapter is up! And just barely more than 24 hours after the first one, too. If I do say so myself, I'm doing quite will with this whole updating thing, haha. I know the chapters are really short, but the updates do come much more frequently. If I decide to make the chapters longer, maybe I'll just update once or twice a week instead of everyday-ish (Which is what I'm trying to accomplish now.) Anyway, if you enjoyed, favorite, follow or review, it really does help a lot in the motivation department! Anyway guys, until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	3. Beater

**A/N:** Hey guys, I'm back with my third chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

Three - Beater

* * *

Sinon sat up and yawned. Looking out her window and seeing that the sun had already risen, she began to panic. _Crap! I have school today!_ She tried to throw off the sheets to get dressed as quickly as possible, but ended up getting tangled in them instead, and fell face-first onto the ground with a shriek of indignation. It was only then did she realize: _Oh right… I'm stuck in SAO…_

Lifting herself off of the ground, Sinon exhaled a sigh, half of relief and half of exasperation. The boss fight was today. That meant that after a month of being stuck on floor one, the players would finally move up to floor two. _What an achievement._ Sinon thought to herself. They'd be stuck in SAO for years if each floor took a month to clear. Silently groaning, Sinon equipped her forest green armour, which incorporated a silver breastplate, for added protection. Also along with the armour came a choker- it wasn't her usual muffler, but it would have to do.

Sinon opened the door to leave, but was met by a familiar face. _Kirito again? This guy doesn't give up._ She sighed in resignation; sighing was a habit of hers. "You again?" She sounded annoyed.

Kirito fought the urge to smack himself. _Not her again!_ He wouldn't admit it aloud, but Kirito feared Sinon, more than any boss or monster, at this point. _Oh well, there's no turning back now…_ Kirito held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "I-I heard a loud bang, a-and I just came to see if you were alright?" Kirito stuttered, intimidated by the menacing girl he stood in front of. He might've been taller than her, but it didn't make much of a difference.

Surprisingly, Sinon's expression softened, ever so slightly. "I'm fine, thanks."

Kirito breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you should be heading to the boss room right now." Her expression hardened again. "Well?" Kirito hadn't realized he was staring at her.

His cheeks turning a slight shade of red, Kirito quickly turned to leave. "O-oh yeah! Sorry!" Walking away from the door as fast as he could, he could still feel Sinon glaring daggers at him.

* * *

The only thing Asuna thought about was clearing the game. She didn't care if she lived or died, but she couldn't sit idly by, knowing that each day in the virtual was a day lost in the real world. So she became what they were calling a front line player, going to the floor dungeon everyday to become stronger, and to try to find the boss room. Little did the other players know, Asuna was the one who had found the boss room, after almost three weeks of venturing into the dungeon everyday, getting up early in the morning and returning to the inn late at night. It was tiring, sure, but the only thing she wanted to focus on was getting out of the death game that was SAO.

She had already arrived at the boss room. Realizing that she was over an hour early, she let out a small sigh, and found a little alcove to sit in. Beginning to feel an onslaught of sleep set in, Asuna yawned, and settled in a comfortable position. Because the dungeon had already been cleared of all mobs, it was relatively safe. The only thing she would have to worry about was player killers, but those were rarely seen in the dungeons. Folding her arms over her chest and pulling her hood down, she aimed to get some rest before the boss fight started.

* * *

When Asuna woke up, she was aware of the crowd of people that had gathered in front of the door, and someone standing next to her little alcove. Trying to move quietly as possible, Asuna's hands crawled towards the rapier at her side, hoping the person wouldn't notice.

"Oh, are you awake?" A kind voice said. Definitely male, but kind.

Relieved, Asuna sat up and made sure her cloak was still secured around her neck, before glancing at the boy standing in front of her. With silver armour over a blue shirt, Asuna was certain she'd seen him somewhere. Not daring to look any higher, for fear that he would see her face, she got up, and awkwardly faced the boy, still looking at her feet.

"You seem alone… Would you like to party up? It's really dangerous to go in without a party." The boy said.

Asuna bit her lip, thinking about the offer Sinon had made her the other day. Looking around, Asuna couldn't see Sinon, so she decided to accept the boy's offer. Nodding silently, Asuna gathered her courage to look at the boy's face. He had long black hair, that extended to just past his eyebrows. His face was surprisingly feminine, but not enough that you'd mistake him for a girl. She watched silently as he sent her a party invite.

 _[Kirito] invites you to join his party._ Asuna hesitated to press the accept button, wondering if he could trust him. _He looks harmless enough,_ Asuna thought, and touched the button. Kirito's name and health bar popped up under her bar, in the top right corner of her peripheral vision. Why had she not noticed that before? Oh right. She'd never been in a party until now.

"Asuna!" A voice called out, surprising Asuna. She hadn't told anyone her name, aside from Kirito, as she guessed her name should be on his HUD, too. She looked up to see a girl with black hair walking towards her casually, smiling.

Sinon's smile quickly disappeared when she saw who Asuna was standing with. _I can never get rid of him, huh?_ She was slightly frustrated, though she did have a doubt about how she was treating the boy. Sinon was a nice person around other girls, but she did have a fear and dislike men. However, this boy seemed different. Kind. He seemed like the kind of person that would go to the ends of the Earth for his friends, based on how he kept trying to be nice, even though Sinon had been horrible to him, so far. She couldn't help it, it was just her way of treating unknown males, regardless of how nice they were to her, ever since _that_ incident… _Whatever! It's too late to apologize and start over now!_ Sinon thought to herself. Instead of saying something potentially insulting and hurtful to Kirito, Sinon instead ignored him and focused her attention on Asuna.

"Hey, Asuna! About that party?" Sinon asked, cheerfully.

"Yeah… I'm also kind of partied up with him…" Asuna subtly pointed at Kirito, who had started walking to go join the rest of the raid party. She realized, with a touch of surprise, that that had been the longest sentence she'd spoken since she had become stuck in SAO.

"Ugh!" Sinon was seemed overly frustrated, if only over one guy… "Fine." She said, exasperated, adding a yell to Kirito. "Don't get in my way!"

As the meeting finished and everybody entered the boss room, all the parties were instructed to group up and take positions. Sinon, Kirito and Asuna were delegated to the task of clearing out the boss's minions so the rest of the raid party would have an easier time focusing on the boss. Players gasped as the boss room flooded with a kaleidoscope of colours, and the boss materialized in front of them.

The first thought running through the minds of the players were: _That thing's huge!_ But they were soon forced into action, as Illfang the Kobold Lord started his first attack.

* * *

"Let's go!" Kirito yelled to his party mates, as he dashed towards the first group of the boss's minions, which were to the far right of the boss room. They were small Kobolds with basic leather armour and curved swords, some armed with shields. Kirito ducked to the left under a swing that was aimed at his shoulder. Not feeling the need to use a sword skill yet, he brought his sword up in a straight line, from where it was at his hip, and sliced vertically through the monster. Faced with another two simple monsters, Kirito activated a Slant, separating both of their bodies into halves. Momentarily stuck in the cool-down period of the sword skill he had just used, he found a sword arcing towards his head at an alarming rate. Closing his eyes, Kirito expected a jolt of pain, that would possibly cause him to black out. Instead, however, he heard clang of metal on metal. Sinon had skillfully caught the Kobold's strike on the hilt of her dagger, effectively creating an opening for Kirito to plunge his sword through it's chest. "Thanks," Kirito said, slightly irked by the fact that he had just been saved by Sinon.

"Whatever," Sinon mumbled, as she continued to wade into the small group of Kobolds, amazingly holding her own with just a dagger and a few throwing picks.

* * *

Sinon watched Kirito as he charged towards the group. As he met the first Kobold, he ended it's life with a swift upward slash, not even using the system assist. A small spark of appreciation for Kirito's skill began to form in her mind. Quickly using the position of his sword as an advantage, Kirito activated a downwards Slant, killing both new enemies in a single hit. It was only then when she realized that Kirito needed help. He couldn't possibly take on all of them at a time. This became apparent when he was almost struck down by another Kobold while he was in his Slant's cool-down period. Sinon only reacted quickly enough to catch the Kobold's swing on the hilt of her dagger, almost getting her arm cut off in the process. As Kirito thanked her, she decided to shake him off and keep fighting, to suppress her embarrassment that stemmed from the way she just stopped and stared as Kirito ran in to do his job.

Looking around at Asuna, lashing out with her rapier with perfect technique, and Kirito, chaining sword skill after sword skill with incredible speed, Sinon realized that she was part of a team. An unlikely team at that, but a team nonetheless. Glad to have people watching her back, Sinon and her party cleared out the rest of the boss's minions, just as the boss's second health bar reached zero.

* * *

Kirito sliced through the final Kobold summoned by Illfang, and looked just in time to see the boss's second health bar deplete fully. Rushing to help the rest of the raid party with the main attraction, Kirito could almost feel Sinon and Asuna running behind him. Sure, Sinon hated him, and Asuna barely knew him, but they made a good team already. With some more coordination, and time to get to know each other, they could become the best of the best.

Illfang roared, indicating a charge attack. The tanks rushed to the front to absorb the force of the boss's charge, and to block damage. This created an opening for the high-damage dealers to put as much effort into eating away at Illfang's HP as possible. This meant Kirito and Asuna… But not Sinon. She was more adapted to being an assassin, utilizing the game's stealth attack bonus to deal large amounts of damage, while remaining unseen. She could only throw a pick at Illfang every once in a while, when she had a clear shot. Sinon mostly liked to aim at the eyes- blinding the enemy did wonders for her allies.

Charging towards the boss together, Kirito and Asuna seemed to work as a cohesive unit, even though they had only fought together for an hour before, without knowing each other previously. Sinon could only feel a slight twinge of envy, though she couldn't put her finger on why. As Illfang prepared to strike, Kirito activated Rage Spike, an extremely fast skill, which wasn't focused on damaging the boss, but instead deflected the boss's attack. Both parties suffered from intense recoil, though this benefitted Kirito more.

"Switch!" He yelled, turning away from the fight to land on his feet and recover, while Asuna took advantage of the boss's off-balance state to use Linear, a one-hit, thrust style rapier skill, which dealt a good amount of damage to the boss. As Illfang hadn't recovered yet, Kirito ran in a delivered a few swift strikes to the stomach, and they both jumped back, out of the boss's range.

Illfang roared as his HP dropped to the final bar. He threw away his shield and battle-axe, and instead pulled a long katana-type weapon from his back.

"Everybody- I got this!" Diabel yelled, and ran forward, planning to deliver a strong, two-handed combo that would've ended the boss's life.

 _Hey, wait…_ Kirito's eyes widened, as he realized that the weapon the boss was holding was different from the beta test. "Diabel!" He yelled, trying to get the man's attention. "Get back!"

However, Diabel didn't hear him, and Kirito could only watch in horror as Illfang leapt up, and executed a series of seemingly random bounces around the walls of the room, before diving down from above and hitting Diabel into the air. Illfang wasn't done yet, thrusting forward with his sword, slashing through Diabel, and causing him to fly even further. Diabel hit the ground with a sickening _thud!_

Kirito ran to Diabel, only to see that his health was dropping. Illfang seemed satisfied for now, and instead of attacking, just huffed and pawed the ground with his hooves. Kirito wondered why Diabel had charged in alone, when it came to him. "You were after the last hit bonus… You were… a beta tester!?" Kirito wasn't terribly surprised, but it still came to him as a shock that someone selfless enough to stay behind with the new players after the death game started, could still try to rush in alone to get the last attack bonus. Holding up a health potion, Kirito urged Diabel to drink it.

Diabel pushed him away. "N-no, it's better… For me… I can't do it anymore." He said, making Kirito realize the large amounts of pressure everyone was under. To clear this game. To make it back alive. It was important to each and every one of them. Diabel smiled, before collapsing into kaleidoscopic polygons and floating away.

Kirito, enraged at the death of a player, roared at Illfang. Trying the same trick again, the boss leapt up and began to ricochet against the wall. Before he could crash down again, however, Kirito performed a ridiculously well-timed Sonic Leap, which sliced through Illfang, sending him off course. Illfang crashed into the ground, the impact robbing him of almost half of his last health bar. Sinon and Asuna charged in, dagger and rapier glowing with the activation of sword skills.

As Asuna and Sinon jumped away, Illfang was reduced to a sliver of health. One hit would do it. Kirito, while still in midair, started a vertical, aiming to hit Illfang as Kirito hit the ground. His sword making contact with Illfang's head, just as he got up, Kirito yelled, using his STR parameter to bring the sword all the way through the boss's body, cutting him perfectly in half.

Kirito gracefully landed on the ground, as Illfang's two halves burst into polygons, and disappeared. The rest of the players, stunned that three people had just rid the boss of his last health bar singlehandedly, began to clap. Half in admiration for the boy who had just killed the boss, half in relief, that they would all get to live another day.

"Stop!" A voice yelled. "Stop clapping!" It was Kibaou. The players gradually quieted down, as they stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Why?" Kibaou sounded devastated. "Why did you let Diabel die!?" The rage in his voice had become apparent. "You know the boss's attack patterns! You were a good-for-nothing beta tester! How could you let him die?!"

The other players started murmuring amongst themselves. _Yeah… Why'd he let him die? How could he do that? He even knew…_

This was bad. Soon enough, all of the beta testers would come under fire. Sinon realized this, and so did Kirito.

"Ahahaha…" A maniacal laugh sounded from the boy who was still crouched on the ground. "Oh please. Don't call me a beta tester. Those guys were such huge noobs. You guys are all better than those lot. They couldn't even use the menu without a tutorial!" Kirito got up and walked through the crowd, heading towards the door to the second floor. "I wasn't just a normal beta tester." Kirito continued. "I single-handedly made it the highest in the beta test, completing 34 floors. The reason I knew the boss's attack patterns… Was because I've fought monsters on much higher floors with awesome katana skills…" He said coldly, opening his inventory. "They make this boss look like a baby. Also… I know a lot. More than any info broker." Kirito laughed again, equipping his last attack bonus, a knee-length black coat called The Coat of Midnight. It fluttered around his legs, adding to the intimidating atmosphere, created by his expression.

"If that's true… Than you're worse than a beta tester! You- you're a cheater!" Kibaou yelled.

The crowd started to murmur again. "A beta tester and a cheater…" One person in the crowd thought aloud. "A Beater!" He yelled, satisfied of the derogatory moniker.

"Beater… I like that." Kirito let loose yet another crazy laugh. "Just don't confuse me with those idiot beta testers anymore." He turned and walked towards the exit.

* * *

Sinon was in awe as she realized what Kirito had done. At the huge expense of himself, he had effectively taken all the blame off of the beta testers. At this point, she felt nothing but respect and gratitude for Kirito, along with a hint of… Attraction? She had to admit, she found the change in his personality slightly attractive. "Kirito… wait. I think we got off on the wrong foot," She said, hoping to change things, and apologize for being so cold. "I-I'm sorry. Can we start over?"

It was Kirito's turn to be cold. "Hey, Sinon. We make a great team… but I don't think you want to be hanging around with a beater." He said, bitterly. "Be safe." He added, before sending her a friend request, not really expecting her to accept it. Kirito turned and walked through the door, without waiting for a reply.

* * *

Sinon felt rejected. _Why? Nothing had happened in the first place!_ But still. He had neither explicitly accepted nor declined her offer to try and be friends, instead of awkwardly trying to avoid each other all the time. No, he had just sent her a friend request and left. _Does this mean he wants to talk sometime?_ Sinon wondered. _No, I'll just be happy with the fact that he didn't completely brush me off._ Sinon shook her head, to clear the hesitation, and touched the blue circle, for _accept_.

* * *

 **A/N:** I told you I'd work on longer chapters, didn't I? Well, I did, but I guess I'm not too good at writing fight scenes so uh... Forgive me, hehe. I know there isn't a lot of Sinon time in this story, sorry about that :P. I needed to focus on Kirito for the sake of getting past that annoying first boss fight, so maybe I can pull of a time skip at this point. Anyway, don't expect another chapter for a while, because I'm actually gonna be pretty busy the whole weekend. Seriously. Anyway, let's move onto feedback. Thanks for all the favorites and follows, you have no idea how proud I am of my first fanfiction! :D. Also, with reviews, they're my favorite kind of feedback because they tell me what you think about the story and constructive criticism is always nice. ;)

That's it, and until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	4. Date Night

**A/N:** I just had to write a fluff chapter before that massive time skip, which I may or may not be implementing. Yup. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Four - Date Night

* * *

It had been a month since Sinon last saw Kirito. Even though they weren't technically friends, she still craved someone to talk to. Of course, she could track him due to him being on her friends list, but she took the lack of messages or meetings to mean that he didn't want any contact with her. Asuna was always away with her guild, so she was out of the question. Deciding to see where Kirito was at the moment, Sinon opened her friends menu.

[Asuna] Floor 10, Lisbeth's Smith Shop

[Kirito] Floor 12, The Sleeping Centaur Inn

Sinon ignored the fact that her friends list only consisted of two entries. _Wait… What?!_ Kirito was staying at the same inn Sinon had been staying in, for the duration of time it took to clear floor 12. Making up her mind to go visit him, she brought up the teleport option, only to bite her lip and think twice. _He probably doesn't want to see me… I was such a jerk to him! Maybe I should apologize again? I really need someone to talk to…_ That last thought motivating her, she pressed opened up the teleport menu, and pressed [Affirmative].

Sinon opened her eyes again outside of a door, standing in a hallway. The game only teleported players to the room door (or front door) if the target player was staying in an inn room or in their own home. She nervously knocked on the door, and stood back to wait. The door opened, revealing a yawning Kirito, whose bloodshot eyes showed the telltale signs of staying up too late at night.

Shocked by the person standing at his door, Kirito's face lost all signs of tiredness. "Si-Sinon? I thought I told you…"

Sinon pouted. "You didn't think you could've just sent me a friend request and leave, did you?! Idiot…"

Kirito scratched his head, awkwardly. "Well… I didn't expect you to accept it. But now that you've found me," He said, before adding under his breath, "And based off of how stubborn you probably are…" He returned to his usual cheerfulness. "I guess there's no getting rid of you?"

"You're absolutely correct." Sinon confirmed. "And also… I wanted to properly apologize. I was being really cold, mean and imposing when we first met- Do you think we could be friends?"

"I- uh…" Kirito was cut off by the sound of a stomach growling. Sinon, realizing that the noise had come from herself, began to blush furiously. Silently wishing for a muffler that wasn't there. "Well! Let's get something to eat, huh?" Kirito quickly said, not wanting the situation to become awkward.

"U-um… Yeah!" said Sinon. She hadn't eaten anything since she had woken up… and it was 5:00 pm. How could she have been so careless?

* * *

Kirito hadn't come to Sword Art Online to eat good food, but that's what it felt like as he sat at a table for two, across from a certain dark-haired girl. He definitely didn't come to Sword Art Online for awkward dates in romantic restaurants, but oddly, that's how it turned out. It seemed Kayaba had either a joking side or a romantic side, as the last Friday afternoon of every month was 'date night' at all the restaurants in Aincrad. Luckily for Kirito and Sinon, that was today.

"Uhh- " Kirito rubbed the back of his neck, obviously uncomfortable with his current situation. "Sorry about this…"

Sinon's face had been a light shade of red for the entirety of their sitting in the restaurant. Trying to make up for her attitude towards Kirito before, she tried to continue the conversation, however awkward it might be. "N-no, it's okay. It's not like either of us have any points in the cooking skill… And as long as I'm not eating those pieces of cardboard disguised as bread, I-I'm happy." Sinon wanted to smack herself. She hadn't thought about the implications of what she had just said before the words came out of her mouth. "P-plus, we know we're not -"

"Yeah!" Kirito quickly replied, cutting her off.

"We're just- "

"Friends!" Kirito finished for her, awkwardly ending the conversation. They sat in silence until the food they had ordered arrived at their table. _Friends?_ Sinon considered the thought. She hadn't really thought about Kirito as a friend, in it's own right. But now that she thought about it, to her, Kirito _was_ a genuine friend.

As the NPC waitress arrived at their table, she grinned at the couple. "You two are so cute! Aww… Anyway! Enjoy your meal!" She said, dropping the plates off at the table. This only added to Sinon's blush, as her face turned a more vivid shade of red.

"Hey! We're not…" Realizing she was talking to an NPC, Sinon trailed off, and proceeded to absentmindedly push her food around her plate with a fork. She looked up, to see Kirito stifling a laugh. "What…?" She asked, slightly self-conscious.

"Nothing, nothing," Kirito said, waving his hand dismissively. "It seems that Kayaba went to decent lengths to make 'date night' consistent." Knowing that this was the same person who had trapped them all in this death game, it was only fair to laugh.

"D-don't say that here! Everyone else can hear you!" Sinon whispered frantically. It was as if admitting that they were on a date was the worst thing that could possibly occur at that moment, but for poor Sinon, who had never been on a proper date, even though she definitely wasn't on one with Kirito right now, it meant the whole world. She was never really good with interaction. Put that on top of her inherent fear of men, and you have one lonely girl.

As the two ate in silence, they tried to avoid each other's eyes. The quiet didn't last long, however, as Sinon was soon finished her plate. Having not eaten for over 12 hours, she, naturally, was still hungry. Looking over at Kirito's dish, which was still half-full of food, her mouth started to water, though she tried her best to keep it hidden. She sat there awkwardly, shifting back and forth as Kirito ate.

"Hey, um…" Sinon internally smacked herself. Why had she said anything? Oh, well… Might as well finish the thought. "I haven't eaten in a long time, and I don't want to spend more money, and I'm kind of hungry…" Sinon babbled, trying to think of a good excuse to take some of Kirito's food. "What I meant to say was, I'm still kind of hungry… And I was wondering… Can I have some of that?" She said, her face determined.

"Huh? O-oh. Mm hmm, sure! I'm not too hungry anyway." Kirito said, oblivious to Sinon's extremely embarrassed state, as he pushed his plate towards her. Sinon's eyes lit up, as she dug into that plate as well, finishing with a satisfied sigh. Even though players didn't log in to SAO for good food, it was still a damn good reason.

As Kirito payed from the menu, Sinon stood up and stretched, barely hearing Kirito mumble, "Man, some of these restaurants are not cheap~"

"Oh, quit being a baby. The food was good." Sinon argued, wanting to keep up a conversation with her new 'friend'.

"Maybe you thought it was good," Kirito mumbled, dejectedly thinking about all the cor he had had to spend on one meal.

* * *

Standing in front of Sinon's room's door, the pair lacked most signs of awkwardness, which had stemmed from the night's events. They had been out for about 3 hours after they had finished supper, talking about their interests and such, because good friends had to get to know each other, and moving onto game-related topics, such as boss strategies, and skills along with preferred weapons and such.

"Wow. I actually had fun." Sinon said, exhausted, from chasing Kirito after he had poured a cup of ice cold water down the back of her armour.

"Of course you did, you're playing a game." Kirito smirked. "In all seriousness though, how was 'date night'?" Said Kirito, making an 'air quotes' gesture.

"Ha ha. We weren't on a date." Sinon said, used to Kirito's joking sarcasm by this point.

"Of course not!" Kirito said, waving his hands awkwardly. "Anyway, you get a good sleep! We're both with the raiding party tomorrow."

"Mm hmm!" Sinon replied enthusiastically, as Kirito turned to walk down the hall towards his own room.

"Maybe we could party up sometime." Kirito mused, absentmindedly, as he walked into his room and closed the door.

 _Yeah… Maybe…_ Sinon thought. Kirito wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

The next day was a slow day. The raid party's main priority was mapping, as most of the dungeon had already been cleared. They'd been working at floor 12 for only 2 days- a testament to the willpower of the clearers to get out of the death game. The first floor had motivated them. One month for the first floor, and another month for 11 more. It seemed Sinon's prediction that they'd be stuck in SAO for quite a few years was wrong.

"Hey, Kirito?" Sinon asked.

"Hmm?" Kirito lazily responded. The two were walking at the back of the group, each with their own map data pulled out.

"Did you really want to party up?" She asked.

This elicited another awkward response from Kirito. "I was just thinking out loud… But I guess when we find the boss room, we could party up together. And we'd need a third person… So maybe that girl- Asuna?"

"Well- I don't know if Asuna would be able to help us. She's always away with her new guild, reaching levelling quotas or something. Speaking of levels… What level are you?" Sinon asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Hmmm…" Kirito growled slightly as his eyebrow twitched. He probably didn't want to tell her. "Why do you want to know?" He asked Sinon.

"I bet mine is at least double yours." Sinon said, jokingly. She had done a decent amount of grinding after the first boss floor, it had only shown her that she needed to become stronger. However, she still couldn't find a weapon she was satisfied with, as her dagger required her to get unsettlingly close, and swords were out of the question as she found them awkward and heavy. The weapons she enjoyed using the most were her throwing picks, but they didn't do enough damage, even at floor 10.

"That's cute," Kirito laughed. "Here." He opened his player profile screen, and showed it to Sinon.

She gasped when she saw the number under his level indicator. _No way- he's already level 18? I'm only on 13…_ Levels in SAO were by no means easy to get. It wasn't your average MMORPG, where the first 20 levels or so only required you to kill a few slimes. This only added to Sinon's admiration of Kirito's strength, wondering where it came from, and what motivated him. Intending to ask, Sinon started again. "Kirito…?"

"What is it?" He said, carefully examining his map data.

Sinon suddenly decided that she would ask another time, when he was more likely to answer her truthfully. "A-ah. Never mind."

Kirito opened his mouth to say something, but not before the man leading the raid party stopped. "The boss room is just up ahead!" He yelled. "A meeting based on the info broker's information will be held later today! The boss fight will be tomorrow! You are all free to teleport back to town to rest for now."

A collective sigh could be heard from the group, as players started to pull out teleport crystals, or turn around to walk home. Each pulling out a teleport crystal, Kirito and Sinon were enveloped in the blue fire of teleportation.

* * *

"It says here, the floor 12 boss is… Orochi the Eight-Forked Serpent?" Kirito said, reading from the info broker's newly-updated boss handbook. "That's different from what it was in the beta test…" He was currently sitting around a small coffee table in Sinon's inn room; the two were discussing boss strategy.

"It seems as if the boss has almost no weak spots, and it's also pretty fast. But it's pretty balanced, taking into account that it has barely any health." Sinon added. "Anyway… It's getting late. We should get to sleep."

"R-right!" Kirito said, as he quickly got up to leave. "See you tomorrow!" He said, backing out of the door, inadvertently hitting his shoulder on the door frame. Sinon giggled as she got up to close the door.

* * *

 _AAAHHHH!_ Kirito was awoken from his sleep by a blood-curdling scream. The voice it came from was strangely familiar. Opening the door to his room, Kirito walked out into the hallway and made his way to Sinon's room. Assuming she was awake as that scream must've woken the whole inn, he knocked on her door. "Sinon? It's me. Are you awake?" He asked, intending to find out who the scream was from.

The door opened to a Sinon, whose face was tear-streaked, and her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Sinon- are you okay?" Kirito's voice was full of concern.

Stepping aside to let Kirito enter, she shook her head and began shakily, "It's nothing… Just nightmares- I used to have them all the time, but-" She was cut off by Kirito enveloping her in a hug.

"It's okay," He said. "They're not real…"

Sinon allowed herself to relax in the warmth of his embrace. "Thanks, Kirito." She sighed happily.

"Well, if you're alright," Kirito said, pulling back, "I'll go back to my room. Get some sleep, we have a boss fight tomorrow." He opened the door and started to leave, when he was stopped in his tracks by Sinon.

"Hey, Kirito… Do you mind… Staying with me?" She asked, with completely innocent intentions.

Blushing a light shade of red, Kirito turned. "U-uh, sure. I'll sleep in the armchair over there." He said, gesturing to the chair in the corner, while walking back into the room and closing the door behind him.

Subconsciously, Sinon felt slightly disappointed when Kirito said he'd sleep in the chair, but she hardly noticed it. She just nodded, relieved that she wouldn't be alone to suffer more nightmares. Tucking herself in under the covers, she looked over at Kirito, who was already peacefully asleep in the armchair in the corner of her room. _Thanks, Kirito._

* * *

 **A/N:** If there's one thing I've noticed about my own writing, it's that I rely heavily on horizontal lines. Oh, what would I do without them? Anyway, two big things. Numero Uno! I don't have a proofreader! :/ If you notice spelling/grammar issues, point them out to me, and I'll try to fix them. Furthermore, if you want to be my proofreader, just PM me, but be warned, I do work on this story a lot, so you might have lots to read ;). Numero Dos! Sinon is out-of-character. Yes, I know. But then again, her overall personality was never really established for me, watching the anime and the SAO II Offline episodes. But if you have a good idea of how she should be, PM me, or simply post a review! And onto feedback again! If you liked, or disliked, write a review! Lets me know that real people really like my writing. (Surprisingly).

Anyway, that should be all. Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	5. Murderer

**A/N:** I had hoped to get more than one chapter up this weekend, but oh well. School is a jerk sometimes. Enjoy! Oh and also, I decided to post this version of the chapter while waiting for my proofreaders to get back to me, so edits can and may follow.

* * *

Five - Murderer

* * *

Kirito had left Sinon's inn room before she woke up, as he felt the only thing that would come out of that was awkwardness. Now standing inside Lisbeth's smith shop, waiting for Lisbeth to upgrade his Anneal Blade to +8 as he'd requested, he was left in silence, contemplating on what he would do to fill the time of the day. He didn't particularly want to go back to see Sinon yet, the awkwardness of yesterday only now catching up to him.

"Kirito? It's ready." A voice returned Kirito to reality.

"How much do I owe ya, Liz?" He asked. Cor wasn't a problem for him, as he spent day and night grinding mercilessly, he had already saved up over 200,000.

Kirito payed the reasonable price of 150 cor and left, as he'd decided to grind all day, that is, after the players had finished the boss fight.

* * *

 _One Week Later_

* * *

Sitting inside of his room in the inn he was staying at, Kirito still hadn't worked up the nerve to go and see Sinon, after his last encounter with her in the boss room, where she had told him that she wanted to go solo to level and become stronger, but that he should still visit her. Of course, he understood. That's what he had done, for the length of the game, pushing people away, so as not to get them hurt on his never-ending grinding trips.

It was then a PM interrupted his thoughts. Opening his menu, he navigated to the PM section, where the newest unread message popped up in front of him.

[Sinon], Just now.

KIRITO, NEED HELP.

Three simple words. Kirito jumped up, while opening his friends list to see where she was.

[Sinon] Forest of Paladins, Floor 13.

 _Crap!_ It was the highest dungeon the clearers had come upon so far. Kirito had never doubted Sinon's strength as a player, but he doubted even he could easily fight the mobs in the dungeon. But if she was with a party member… _Oh god! Please don't let it be them…_ Kirito ran down the hall and down the stairs, quickly pushing open the door to the inn before a teleport crystal materialized in his hand.

"Teleport, Paladin Forest!" Kirito yelled, and he felt the familiar tingle of teleportation kick in.

* * *

Sinon and Asuna had devoted what little time they had together to grind together, despite Asuna having quite a demanding guild, and Sinon being a solo player, for old time's sake. Deciding on the hardest dungeon they knew of, they felt relatively confident that the two of them could handle it together, both of them being skilled fighters, Sinon with her dagger and throwing picks, and especially Asuna, with her lightning-fast rapier combos.

Currently, the pair had had only a little trouble clearing the mobs; with two of them, it definitely made things easier. The common mobs that spawned in the dungeon were knight-like figures called Red Paladins, and were clad in heavy crimson red armour. Armed with two-handed broadswords with colour matching that of their armour, they were fearsome enemies. Sinon and Asuna however, wasn't having much of a problem with them because of their sheer difference in stats. It seemed kind of unfair, how a simple number could decide if you lived, or died. Such was the way of life in a virtual world.

As the last monster in the area disintegrated into a flurry of colourful polygons, the pair let out a collective tired sigh, as the allowed themselves to relax. Asuna pulled out a basket, from which wafted a wonderful smell.

"Mmm… What's that smell?" Sinon inquired.

"O-oh. Well, since I had a feeling we weren't going to make it back to town in time for lunch, I brought it with me, so we could eat here." The chestnut-haired girl replied, uncovering the basket, showing off two finely-crafted sandwiches.

Sinon's eyes sparkling at the food, she took the sandwich Asuna was offering to her, and took a bite, before hearing a shriek next to her.

Sinon looked over to see what had happened to Asuna, as it was usually comical. Instead, what greeted her eyes was far from comical, as she saw the throwing pick that was now lodged in Asuna's shoulder. It had done barely any damage… So why wasn't she moving? With a shock, Sinon saw the debuff marker under Asuna's health bar. It was the symbol for paralyzation.

 _What?! An ambush!_ She quickly opened her menu and typed a frantic PM before pulling out her dagger, waiting for any more throwing picks. Surely enough, she saw a glint in the edge of her peripheral vision, indicating a movement. Sinon turned, thought not fast enough, to deflect the throwing pick that was flying towards her chest. Grazing it, she was only successful in redirected it, where it grazed her arm, doing 2 points of damage. Far deadlier, however, was the paralyzation affect that was now applied to her as well. She then realized her fatal mistake, of going to the highest level dungeon found in Aincrad at that point. PKers often hid in them, to trap unsuspecting players and take their lives, all for a little cor offered by their employers. Sinon crumpled to the ground, unable to control her muscles, and could only watch helplessly as their assailants emerged from the trees around them, cursing herself for not having levelled her Searching skill.

* * *

Kirito materialized in front of the entrance to the forest. Not hesitating for even a single second, he activated his tracking skill, and sprinted into he forest, following a pair of golden footprints. _Please let it not be too late…_ He pleaded in his mind, hopping left and right to avoid trees. Stumbling as he came into a clearing, Kirito could only register the sound of laughter before he realized he was surrounded, by men in ragged brown cloaks, various weapons in their hands. The most important part however, where the orange markers above their heads, indicating that they had purposefully damaged a player before. Looking beyond them, he could faintly see the collapsed bodies of two girls.

Feeling rage build up inside his chest, Kirito drew the sword from his back, and to the surprise of the attackers around him, he flipped the sword into a reverse grip, holding it akin to the way a special forces operative would hold a tactical knife. He had two main reasons; strikes were faster and closer, and the blade turned faster, which allowed for a better defence, especially against multiple opponents, who approached from a multitude of different angles.

Still lying on the ground in a rather uncomfortable position, Sinon's eyes widened as she saw Kirito flip his sword, holding it upside down. _What the hell is he doing…?_ She wondered, before she saw him move into action. One man brought a broadsword down in an overhead strike, while Kirito simply deflected it off of his sword, a feat he wouldn't have been able to accomplish without getting his fingers cut off, had he not been wielding the sword in such an unorthodox way. Flourishing his sword to his hip, he put his other hand on the end of the pommel, thrusting forwards. The sword pierced the body of the first man, not doing enough damage to kill him, but the pain was more than enough to disable him. Kirito quickly pulled his sword out of the man in front of him, and drew a figure-eight in the air with his sword as he deflected another two strikes - one from his left, and then one from his right - in quick succession, effortlessly. Whirling around to the left, he used his momentum to his advantage as he lashed out, slashing another man along the waist. He quickly lunged to the right and pushed his sword through yet another opponent, this one dropping to the ground, dead.

"KIRITO!" Sinon cried out, as she saw another blow aimed at his head, while he seemed to be recovering from his previous strike. Barely registering the movement, she vaguely saw Kirito draw his sword out of the third man he'd maimed, and pushed the blade into an uppercut. Metal clanged on metal, and the fourth assailant's sword was parried with little effort on Kirito's part. Furthermore, the position of his blade allowed him to complete another deadly thrust, as it connected with the upper chest of the PKer, robbing him of all of his HP. _Oh my-_ Sinon couldn't finish her thought, as she was harshly yanked off of the ground, and felt an arm wrap around her neck, and a dagger press against her throat. Judging from the yelp of indignation that she heard from Asuna, she was given the same treatment.

"Drop the sword!" She heard a gruff voice yell. Kirito had finished in a peculiar stance. His legs were spread a little farther than shoulder width, and both arms were out in front of him, his sword arm outstretched horizontally in front of his chest, his other hand in an open palm, supporting the pommel of the sword that's blade rested on his forearm. "I said drop it!" Sinon could hear the wavering in his voice as two of his comrades dissipated into light blue-green polygons. She was suddenly aware of a single tear, tracing it's way down her cheek. He had killed them. Real people, taken their lives, all to save Sinon and Asuna. "Fine… If you won't drop it… Kill her!" The man, who had Asuna, said. She heard a scream. It took her a moment to realize it had come from herself.

In an instant, Kirito was upon them, seemingly having moved faster than the eye could see. "Don't touch either of them." Kirito said, under his breath. Again, in a movement faster than the eye could see, Kirito lashed out right, and then left. All Sinon knew was a sudden gust of wind, the feeling of being dropped, and then two more sounds… Sounds like glass shattering.

* * *

Kirito took a step back, realizing what he had done. Four people. He had murdered four people. He looked to Asuna, hoping to see gratitude, relief, anything. Instead, what he was met with was a look of horror. Fearing what Sinon's eyes would hold, he looked at her as well. Her eyes, too, were filled with terror, at the scene the had just witnessed. The two girls had their backs pressed into the tree, as if wanting to escape, escape from the monster that stood before them. Realizing that his sword was still in his hand, he flipped it once before returning it to it's sheath.

"Kirito…" Sinon started.

He couldn't live with himself. Not after what he had done. He could hear the fear in Sinon's voice. She didn't want to go near him. She didn't want anything to do with him. He was alone. Kirito held back a guttural cry, a sob, whatever it was, before quickly procuring a teleport crystal, and muttering something to it, disappearing.

* * *

Sinon could still hear the rapid breaths of Asuna after Kirito had gone. _Oh god… Kirito…_ She couldn't imagine what he was feeling. She still couldn't believe what her eyes saw as Kirito, the calm and collected kind boy, had turned into some sort of fighting demon… Still, nonetheless, he had come solely to save them, making it 100% her fault, as it was her idea to come to the dungeon in the first place. Tears running down her face, Sinon opened her friend menu, hoping to track Kirito, to yell at him, comfort him, or tell him that it was all her fault. Blinking a few times to clear the blurriness from her vision, her heart dropped as she read her friends list. It only consisted of one person.

[Asuna].

Kirito had removed Sinon from his friends list. Sinon sat down with her head in her knees, defeated, and allowed herself to cry.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow. That got really dark, really quick, hehe. And yeah, there goes my habit of writing short chapters again, but I guess it can't be helped. I should mention that I've got two wonderful proofreaders on board as well now, a big thank you to Crimiduck and Reaper2908! (Although, at this point I'd probably call them something along the lines of beta testers. Get it? SAO? Beta testers? Ha ha?) Also, thanks for the feedback in the reviews! If this chapter hit you guys right in the feels, let me know... Cuz that was my intention :3. And if it didn't, tell me what I did wrong, so I can make the next chapter hit you straight in the feels! XD. And if you want me to write longer chapters, tell me, because I'd be glad to oblige. Also, another thing I wanted to try was writing from the first-person point of view... Tell me if you'd like that. Cool? Cool. EDIT: Before I get any other messages/reviews about this... Hehe. The wiki says, and I quote: " **Cor** (コル, _Koru_ ) is the form of currency in the world of Sword Art Online."

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	6. The Black Cats

**A/N:** Hey guys! Been a while, I was trying to write a longer chapter, but it just isn't gonna work out for me, sorry. Don't have a long enough string of ideas to write a normal chapter longer than like 2,000 words or so. Oh yeah! First person. Lemme know if you like it :D. Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Six - The Black Cats

* * *

 _Kirito._

I couldn't feel anything. I didn't feel the cold, as I slowly trudged up the mountainside, without so much as a cloak equipped. I could see the blue icon next to my HP bar, indicating the frostbite debuff, making my movements sluggish. I couldn't really remember why I was there, I just knew that I had to get away. From everything, from everyone. From myself. I was a killer, simple as that. Out of the urge to protect Sinon and Asuna, I killed four of them. I can still remember their looks of horror, sending chills down my spine. It was as if they had watched a rabid dog tear out the throats of innocents, but that wasn't very far from what I had done. I didn't even have to kill a single one of them. They could've been disabling wounds, not fatal… But I had still went in for the kill shot. It was an instinct, I guess. It snuck up on me in the heat of the moment. But I couldn't let myself make excuses. That would've made me even worse than the scum I was.

Oh yes. I've remembered why I was there. To gather a rare metal, for a blacksmith to forge me as strong of a sword as possible. From now on, I'd be solo forever. No parties, no guilds. Nothing. I only hurt the people around me. Vaguely registering a roar, I pulled my sword from the sheath on my back, wincing as I lashed out at the source of the sound. I felt my sword sink into something soft, and fleshy. I could see their faces, again. Bloodied and bruised, their eyes black in their sockets.

"Murderer…" One of them whispered.

"Shut up," I told him.

I steadied myself against the cliffside as the images disappeared, and the voices receded. I barely noticed the rewards window from the monster I just stabbed, waving it off, not particularly caring about how much EXP I got, or how much cor I received. I had been making my way up the perilous cliffside for over an hour, but I wasn't afraid of falling. I would welcome it, actually. Nobody would miss me. Honestly, if you had asked me to describe my feelings, I wouldn't be able to. The closest I could get is that I didn't feel sad, or remorseful. I only felt a void. A void which may have once held emotion, but I couldn't tell anymore. I hoped I was close to the top of the mountain. This was getting boring.

* * *

 _Sinon._

 _Hate._ That's the one word that I thought of, when I thought of myself. It was my fault that Kirito had to kill four of them. Asuna and I had foolishly run into the dungeon headfirst, not thinking about the various threats that might be hidden inside. We got ambushed, and neither of us could do anything about it. Pathetically, we had to rely on Kirito for help. I could see it in his eyes, he had sacrificed his humanity to save us. Now, as I sat with my back against the wall in the inn, the only thought running through my mind was how I would make it up to him.

 _Knock knock!_ Somebody was at the door. Opening it, I was greeted with red hair, and a scruffy face.

"Klein? Why are you here?" I asked. Probably too coldly, but I couldn't help it.

"Sinon! I-is it true?" He didn't even bother to answer me.

My heart plummeted, just thinking about what I had to tell him. I met Klein during the floor 10 boss fight. His guild was away, so he partied up with Asuna and I. _Asuna…_ I wondered where she was, what she must've been feeling. Maybe similar to me.

I sighed. "Yes Klein. Yes, it is." Klein's eyes widened, before I kept going. "Asuna and I went into the highest level dungeon without even thinking… And- and…" I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. "And we got ambushed by PKers, and we were both paralyzed, and Kirito came to save us and…" I realized I was speeding up by the moment. Taking a deep breath to try to calm myself, I continued. "There were six of them. He… he had to kill four."

"Damn…" Klein's face fell, upon hearing what Kirito had had to go through. For me. "Can I come in?" He asked.

I just remembered we were standing in my doorway. "O-oh! Yeah, sorry." I said, stuttering slightly.

Sitting down at the coffee table, another wave of grief washed over me. "What should I do, Klein? I-It's my fault."

"No, Sinon. It's not your fault. I just have to ask you a question… Did the PKers… Were they wearing tattered olive-green cloaks?"

What a curious question. Taken aback by the random inquiry, my only action was to respond truthfully. "Yeah, actually. Why?"

"Sinon, those guys were from Laughing Coffin. The strongest player killer guild… If Kirito hadn't finished them off, they would have killed all three of you!" He said.

But Kirito hadn't killed all of them. He had inflicted only disabling wounds on the other two… That's right! As I had walked passed one of them, still lying on the ground in pain, he suddenly lashed out with a knife, narrowly missing me as I jumped back. Deciding it was safer to teleport, Asuna and I had both returned to town via crystal.

"I guess… I guess you're right, Klein- but it was stil-"

He cut me off. "It's not your fault! You couldn't have known they were in there! They caught you off guard and that's not your fault!" Tears were dripping down his face now. "Kirito's saved me multiple times, too… We're all indebted to him." He finished, slowly. "We need to go talk to him." Apparently, he had the same intentions as I did, about trying to see if we could clear his conscience. Knowing him, he was probably overworking himself to the brink of death by exhaustion, trying to forget. I couldn't do a thing, however. He had removed me from his friends list. Idiot.

"Klein?" I asked. "Is Kirito still on your friends list?"

"Whaddya mean 'sti-'… Oh… Wait… Did he?" He wondered aloud, incredulous. Not wanting to say anything, because I had a good feeling that if I did, I'd only start to cry again, I nodded.

"That idiot!" Klein said, his teeth grinding, perfectly matching my thoughts. Furiously opening his menu, he scrolled down his friends list. As he reached the bottom, he sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation. "He's not here! God damn it!" He continued to blurt a few choice words about how foolish Kirito was, but at that point I had tuned out, my thoughts returning to the cheerful boy I had only spent one evening with, yet I felt like I had known him for the longest time. Now, he was gone. With no way of finding him. I buried my head in my hands, wishing for the ache in my chest to stop.

With one last dying hope, I opened my menu and typed a PM to a chestnut-haired girl, one that was also in shock.

* * *

 _Kirito._

Four months. It had taken me four months to stop beating myself up everyday after the deaths of the players I had killed. Furthermore, I had removed each and every player from my friends list. They wouldn't have appreciated me being around, not that any of them would come near me, if they had found out what I did. Still, not a day went by when I didn't think of the looks of horror written across Asuna and Sinon's faces. I still saw them, when the boss room was found and I had to participate, but I wore a cloak that hid my identity, and I played solo. It was impossible to tell it was me.

I had all but forgotten. I couldn't even remember the faces of those I had slain, not even their names. But it hardly mattered any more, I did what I had to. I had resigned myself to loneliness, training night and day, only sleeping every two or three days. I doubted not sleeping could kill you in this game. Traversing the maze of the labyrinth on floor 25, I was expecting it to be empty, except for the monsters from which I harvested my strength. That is, until I heard the familiar sound of metal on metal, the scraping noises and screeching sounds evident of that of a shield. Quickly turning a corner, I came to the sight of five people, by the looks of it, all in a guild together. Fighting several "Fujin's Servants", willowy white mobs with four arms, a sword in each hand, they weren't doing too good, with three out of five being in the red zones of the HP bar. I couldn't let them die.

Yelling to let them know I was behind them, I pulled out my sword and switched it to a reverse-grip that I was accustomed to. Pulling it under my arm, the sword started to glow a bright red, indicating the activation of a system-assisted sword skill, called "Heeding Call". As the guild members' eyes widened, they stepped away, giving a wide berth for my sword skill. Heeding Call started with a stabbing motion, followed by a slash from the lower left hip to the upper right shoulder, then an overhead whirling-strike, continued by two horizontal strikes in quick succession, forming an X. This lead into a side-flip that allowed for a ground-slam type attack, that stunned mobs within a small radius. The guild members' jaws hit the floor as I whirled into action, stabbing and slicing through all of the four mobs with a single sword skill, with them all disappearing into polygons with the sound of shattering glass. I hated that sound.

"Whoah!" My thoughts were interrupted by one of the members of the guild. He wielded a mace and shield, and wore a purple tunic under his simple gleaming graphite-coloured armour. "I've never seen someone use a longsword that way… And that sword skill! Is it unique?"

One word rushed into my mind, however rude it might've been. _Noob._ He was right though. As far as I knew, it was a unique skill. One day after the incident… I was checking through my sword skills, and I just saw it there. "Reverse-grip Wielding".

"Yes, it's unique." I answer, before yet another voice cuts me off.

"Thanks for saving us, uh…" a man with brown hair and a spear stepped forward.

"Kirito." I supplied.

"Thanks for saving us, Kirito!" He said, before all the other guild members chimed in as well. One member, however, caught my attention. A girl with a shy expression, with shoulder-length black hair. She also wielded a spear. She seemed as if she was afraid, though of what I couldn't tell.

"U-um… It was nothing!" I waved my hands in a surrendering gesture, wanting to get away from them as quick as possible.

"Well, Kirito. I say we treat you to a drink! Think of it as an expression of our gratitude!" He said. I didn't really know what it was, but I was warming to the guild's positive attitude.

"To the Moonlit Black Cats!" Keita said. On the journey back, I had learned all of their names, as they had decided it was necessary information, though I doubted I'd be staying around them for long.

"And to Kirito!" He added.

"Cheers!" They all cried

"C-cheers…" I said, flustered from the attention I was getting from the other people in the inn's tavern.

"Hey," Keita said. "I know this is really rude to ask, but what level are you?"

"U-uhm…" I stalled, contemplating what I wanted to tell them. I was probably going to have to lie about my level… If they found out, they might ask me to train them, or worse, ask me to take them to a dangerous dungeon… I shuddered, just thinking about it. "About twenty or so…" I gulped as I took a glance at my level indicator…

[Kirito]: Level 40.

"Really?" Keita asked. "That's not too far from us! Say, Kirito. What do you think about joining our guild?"

It was plain to see, the Black Cats needed help. Even if it was just to train them for a short while, they needed me… Otherwise, they would've just gotten into another situation like I had found them in today, but without anyone to save them.

Temporarily. Only temporarily. "U-uh… Sure!" I said, only with the intention of training them for a while.

* * *

 _Sinon._

I had all but pushed Kirito to the back of my mind. After a month of searching and coming up with nothing, I had given up. Even though I wasn't looking for him anymore, I still wish I could make it up to him somehow…

Suddenly, Klein burst through my door.

"Sinon!" He exclaimed, out of breath. "I saw Kirito!"

My eyes widened, and I could feel my hopes rising, for the first time in almost four months. "What?!" I grabbed Klein and pulled him to the coffee table, me sitting in the armchair in the corner; ever since that day, I always liked to go back to the inn on floor 12.

"Well, Fuurinkazan and I were farming on floor twenty-something, just outside of Taft, in the Lone Wolf Plains, and he and a group of people came through… And I looked closely, and I think one of them was Kirito!" He said, almost too fast for me to comprehend.

"What? I thought Kirito was solo…"

"That's the thing- I think he's joined a guild." Klein said. Judging from his tone, he was just as perplexed as I was.

"He… did WHAT?!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Aaaand that's a wrap! I didn't have many ideas for this chapter, other than I wanted the black cats to be in it. This puts us at around halfway through episode three in the canon-verse... this is gonna be one long story XD. At this point, I've given up on writing longer chapters, and I'm just going to go back to shorter ones. Thanks again to my proofreaders, Crimiduck and Reaper2908, they're catching errors that I'm to busy or lazy to fix, haha. So this time 'round about feedback, I changed from 3rd person to first! Lemme know if you like it, or if you hate it, so I can do it the way people want it next time around. Now let us hope the next chapter is a little bit more eventful, hmm?

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	7. Reunion

**A/N:** Well, it's been a while. You can probably tell I'm getting busier because my chapters are becoming fewer and farther in between, but regardless, enjoy!

* * *

Seven - Reunion

* * *

"I can sell you the information you want, but it'll cost you," said the information broker in the brown cloak. "I don't take player info like this lightly. Plus, Kirito is one of my best clients, and I'm not sure he wants you to know."

"Please? Argo I'm begging you." The black-haired girl pressed.

"Fine. That'll be… 10,000 cor."

"10,000?! Are you crazy?"

"Info like this doesn't come cheap."

"Fine." Sinon gave up. Opening a trade window to pay the info broker, she sighed. _Why am I going through all this just to find one guy?_

Argo grinned slyly. "Alright. Kirito is in a guild called 'The Moonlit Black Cats' Their base is on the 11th floor, in the city Taft. Honestly… I don't know why he would join a guild like that…"

"Like what?" Sinon asked, interested.

"It's gonna cost you!" Argo teased.

Sinon ground her teeth in frustration, not willing to give up more cor. "Thanks Argo, that's enough." She turned to leave.

"Okay, come back soooon~!" Argo called after her.

 _Ugh._

* * *

Stepping off of the teleport gate platform, Sinon admired floor 11. Taft was a colourful town, it's design based off of southern European cities. In the day, it was lively and joyful. At night, the candles that lit the streets were welcoming and invited you into a nice inn for a night of rest. She opened her map to find the waypoint Argo had set in her map. _Good. It's not too far_. Half-walking, half-jogging, Sinon reached the location- a quaint little inn that seemed to be the perfect balance of price and comfort- and opened the door. Heading to where the NPC innkeeper was sitting, she unequipped her armour.

"Hello, miss. Can I get you something?" The kindly old man asked.

Sinon had always felt nervous talking to strangers, especially in situations like this. _It's an NPC!_ She told herself. _Get a grip!_ "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me who was staying in the inn?"

"I'm not sure I can tell you that, miss. Privacy is important, especially in an inn." He responded. It seemed he was connected to the language core, as his speech was pretty advanced.

"I just need something really vague, I think a-a friend I haven't seen a long time is staying here." She pleaded.

"Okay… I guess I can tell you that. Right now, the only people staying here- hmm, let me see. One with reddish hair, with the same colour armour… Another with blonde hair who always wears a hat… A tall one with a purple tunic. There was also another boy with a green tunic. There was also a very pretty girl in blue. I think that's it." The innkeeper finished.

Sinon's hopes sank. None of those people sounded like Kirito. Plus, what would Kirito be doing on floor 11?! _Damn that Argo…_

"Wait…" The man's voice broke her thoughts. "There was also another one that came in… One with black hair, and a cloak? That one looked so depressing, dressing in all black like that…" He trailed off.

Sinon unintentionally broke into a wide grin. That was definitely Kirito. "Thank you!" She said, before quickly bounding up the stairs, leaving the innkeeper scratching his head. Knocking on the first door, she could only describe her current feelings as excitement. That was, until she waited… and waited, and waited. Nobody answered. It was the same for all of the doors. Sinon was heartbroken. Nobody was there. _Where the hell could he be?!_

* * *

Ducker, Tetsuo, Sachi, Sasamaru and Kirito were roaming through a dungeon on the second floor. The had decided to farm hard to improve their levels to impress Keita when he returned from buying a home, from the amount of cor the guild had saved up.

" _As of this moment, we, the Moonlit Black Cats, have saved up 200,000 cor!" Keita exclaimed._

" _Wow!" Everyone had said. With the addition of Kirito, the guild had been grinding more and more, and they had reached 200,000 cor._

" _This means… We can buy ourselves a guild home!" Keita beamed._

 _Shouts of victory and glee could be heard throughout the halls of the inn._

" _We should get Sachi better equipment!" One of them suggested._

" _N-no, I'm okay," She had insisted._

" _Come on, we can't keep making Kirito solo in the front all the time!" Keita joked. "I know switching roles is tough, but you're close!"_

" _No, I'm alright with being in the front," Kirito had said._

"Hey guys! Look at this!" Kirito was shaken out of his thoughts by Ducker, who was examining a glowing pattern on the wall. Putting his hand on it, the wall dropped away, revealing a room with a lone chest in the middle.

 _I have a bad feeling about this…_ Kirito thought.

"Aww yeah! A treasure room!" Ducker exclaimed, running towards the chest, to open it.

"Ducker! Wait!" Kirito yelled.

Ignoring Kirito, Ducker opened the chest. His dismayed look when he saw nothing in it, changed to horror and shock, when the door closed behind them, and the room became tinted red. More walls dropped into the floor, revealing hordes of high-level mobs.

 _It was a trap! I knew it!_ Kirito thought, as he hacked and slashed through them. Half of them were dwarf-like things, wielding what looked to be sharpened pickaxes. The other half were unarmed creatures made of stone. He didn't need to be told that getting hit by one of those would probably result in a good chunk of even his HP going down the drain.

"Guys! Get out of here!" He yelled. Complying, the others immediately pulled teleport crystals from their inventories.

"Teleport, Taft!" Ducker yelled. The crystal had no effect. "Teleport, Taft!" He yelled again, frantically.

Realization dawning on her, Sachi was horrified. "We can't use our crystals!"

Ducker, who was still distracted by trying to make his crystal work, was caught by one of the dwarf-like mobs. He was thrown to the ground, and pummelled by multiple sharp blades, until, with a final cry of anguish, he broke into a thousand polygons. The other guild members weren't faring well either.

 _Aargghh!_ Kirito heard a yell, coming from his right. Tetsuo was suspended in midair, his mace falling from his hands, breaking into pieces of colourful light. Sasamaru quickly followed, his spear becoming stuck in one of the rock-creatures. Immobilized, he took a swipe from the immensely strong creature, and his HP also hit 0.

 _Damn it! Sachi! I have to protect her! I PROMISED!_ Kirito flew into an enraged frenzy, dodging, swiping and stabbing.

"Kirito!" He heard a voice. Sachi was doing surprisingly well, fending off multiple rock-monsters with her javelin.

"Sachi! Hold on!" Kirito yelled.

Turning to the sound of his voice, Sachi stopped fighting, and reached for him.

 _No! Keep fighting! Ke-_ Thck! The sickening sound of a rock claw digging into virtual flesh made Kirito scream. "NO!"

As Sachi disappeared into crystals, Kirito fought harder than he had ever fought before. He felt as if the only way to make it up to her would be to avenge each and every one of their deaths. Making his way to the centre of the room, slowly but surely, Kirito sliced through the chest. As it dissolved into floating shards of light, the movement of the mobs around him ground to a halt. It was over… The room returned to it's regular blue ambient light, and the door opened. Kirito vaguely registered a figure standing there before he blacked out, from pain, exhaustion, grief or a combination of all three? He couldn't tell.

* * *

"Kirito!" Sinon yelled, as she saw the wall open to reveal a staggering swordsman dressed in black. She ran towards him, a smile plastered on her face, when he tipped, and hit the ground, hard. Her look of happiness changed to a look of sheer horror, as the cuts all over his body gradually began to render. "Kirito?" She knelt down next to him, and shook him. "Kirito!" He still didn't wake up. "Klein!" She yelled to her partner, who had come with her to track him. "I need a hand!" Sinon shoved a health potion into his mouth, slowly recovering his HP, which had dropped to the low red.

Klein ran in, a look of confusion written onto his scruffy face. "Oi, Sinon! What's- is that Kirito!?" He said happily.

"Yeah." Her tone was bitter. "He's unconscious, though. Can you give me a hand?"

"O-oh. Sure." He said, walking over and slinging Kirito over his shoulder.

* * *

The sound of the boy stirring in his sleep woke Sinon from her trance-like state. Klein had carried Kirito back to the inn she was staying inn, and said he had had to go with his guild-mates, and for Sinon to take care of him. She had been sitting next to the bed for the past hour, waiting for Kirito to wake up. After ten minutes, she was biting her nails in anxiety. After thirty, she had resorted to resting in a trance-ish state, to wait for him to wake up. Sinon shrieked in surprise as Kirito suddenly sat up.

"What the hell! Where am I?!" He spouted, with no shortage of random cuss words.

"Kirito, calm down. You're safe." Sinon said, worriedly. She put her hand on his, which seemed to calm him down. He lowered his head, and was silent. Sinon swore she could see a tear making it's way down his cheek, towards his chin.

"Tetsuo… Ducker… Sasamaru… Sachi… I failed them all." He muttered, so quietly that Sinon could barely hear him.

 _Tetsuo… Sachi? Who are those people- wait, didn't Klein say that Kirito was with a guild…? Oh, no… Not again…_ Sinon thought, dejectedly. Kirito had already been through so much, for her, for everybody else. And now this. What did he do to deserve any of this? She surprised him and herself by impulsively wrapping her arms around him. She was somewhat discouraged when she didn't feel a pair of arms wrap around her as well, but she shook it off. _I shouldn't expect him to hug me back._ She told herself, sadly.

She could feel him convulsing, fighting back sobs. "I never got to thank you," She said. The convulsions rapidly came to a stop. "Neither did Asuna. We've been worrying ourselves sick. I haven't been able to sleep properly for a whole four months. You jerk." She said quietly, stroking his hair. "Thank you for saving our lives. We would have been dead…" Sinon shuddered at the thought of what the cloaked men would've been able to do to them if Kirito hadn't shown up.

She pulled back to see that Kirito was looking up at her. "You… couldn't sleep? I'm sorry…" He said, with a sad smile. "I… I saved you?"

"Mm hmm. We would've been dead for sure… It was so stupid of us, getting stuck in that dungeon. I don't even know how I was able to send a PM to you… it must've been a bug or something." She said, genuinely grateful. She then felt a sudden rush of anger. "Plus, what the freaking hell were you thinking just abandoning us like that?! You just left. I couldn't contact you, nobody could! I wanted to kill myself, you know? Everything you had to do… it was our fault. Asuna's and mine. We'll never be able to repay you…" She said, calming down again.

"Your fault? No… it wasn't your fault. I didn't even have to kill them. They could have been disabling wounds…" His vision went dark again. He could see their gruesome faces, maimed and beaten. Their voices crying out to him.

 _Murderer. You're a monster!_ They screamed.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. They would have killed all of us if you didn't… and even if we got away, they would've been back for all of us, you know that, right?" Sinon's gentle voice brought Kirito out of his visions. Feeling the tension in his shoulders relax, she sighed. Letting go of him to walk away, she was interrupted by Kirito grabbing her arm.

"Sinon… Thank you. I've always blamed myself, and thought I was a monster… But that's okay, because I was saving the people that were… that were close to me." He said.

Touched by his comment, Sinon smiled warmly. "Yeah." She reassured him.

"B-but… Sachi… The Moonlit Black Cats…" He started to convulse again.

"It's not your fault, Kirito! They couldn't have known it was a trap…" She pulled him into a hug again. "Knowing you, they probably dragged you in there against your own will." Feeling him relax a little, she knew she guessed right. "You couldn't have done anything about it."

Kirito was too tired to dwell on the topic. He had just spent an hour unconscious, but that didn't serve to remove his exhaustion from having to clear the trap room. _Yawn._ "Sinon, I'm kinda tired…" He said, itching to change the topic. "Do you mind if I crash here for tonight?" He asked, too exhausted for awkwardness."

Sinon, completely forgetting that she was in her inn room, which only had one bed, was only thinking of being kind to the boy that had been through so much, when she replied cheerfully. "Yeah, sure!"

Sighing, Kirito flopped onto his back, his head returning to the indentation he had already made in the pillow from the hour he had spent there. In almost no time at all, his eyes had closed, and he had drifted off to sleep.

She had been staring at Kirito's face for a few seconds when a sudden realization smacked her in the head and she fell back. _Holy crap! I just let him sleep in the_ only _bed in the room!_ She thought to herself. Her face turning a deep scarlet red, the realization dawned on her. _If I want to get any sleep at all, I'll have to sleep there. With him._ She thought to herself, resigning herself to extreme embarrassment, now that nobody could see her. Her ears burning, she quickly changed into her pyjamas, and as discretely as she could, climbed in the covers on the opposite side of Kirito. Turning her back to him, she could feel the still sleeping Kirito unconsciously move a little closer.

It took a while for the blush to leave her cheeks, leaving her only with the feeling of warmth, from Kirito's body heat. She pulled the soft comforter up a little higher- to her cheekbone, and resigned herself to the irresistible call of sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** So there's chapter 7! Yeah... I'm glad that's over. For some reason, I don't like the Moonlit Black Cats. Like, at all. Also, you'll notice I'm back to third person, as a personal choice, because I thought it went back to the roots of the story and the way I wanted to do it when I started it, but if you guys REALLY REALLY want first person back, I'll bring it back. Also, I know this is the dreaded thing, but this concept is only getting SLIGHTLY boring and I MAY OR MAY NOT be implementing a huge time skip just to move things along. Oh yeah, and let me know if you like this idea: Sinon and Kirito are special operatives in real life, OR OR maybe a crossover with FMA where they're state alchemists. If you like those ideas, lemme know. Because that's the next fic I'll be writing - but I want to keep it so I'm only working on one story at a time. Anyway, that should be all this time. OH YEAH and I just uploaded this without the approval of my betas this time, because it's been a while since I uploaded and I wanted to get the chapter out. Plus, I beta'd it myself and couldn't find anything - Sorry, guys :P.

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	8. The Archer

**A/N:** So here it is! Second last chapter before that massive time skip of like two years. Enjoy!

* * *

Eight - The Archer

* * *

 _It's warm…_ Sinon's eyes slowly opened to see the light of day filtering through the curtains in her inn room. She was filled with an overwhelming sense of positivity, though she couldn't put her finger on why. Suddenly, she became very aware of the feeling of something pressed onto her back, and a weight that could be felt just above her hip. She then remembered the night before, and began to blush furiously. Judging by Kirito's even breaths, he was still asleep. However, since his arm was draped over her, she wouldn't be able to escape without waking him. Feeling her ears starting to heat up even more, Sinon began to panic. _Oh crap! How do I get out of this… What am I gonna say when he wakes up!?_ The weight over her waist lessened, and in his sleep, Kirito rolled over again onto his back. The relief she felt was immense, as she used the opportunity to quickly get up and stretch, her face still red. Kirito started to stir and yawned, sitting up groggily and stretching.

"Morning." He said, rubbing his eyes. "Sleep well?" He obviously had no idea what had just happened. Waving her hands frantically, Sinon blushed even more furiously.

"Yep! Great!" She quickly replied.

"You okay? You look a little red." Kirito was stretching again.

Starting to wave even more frantically as if she could wave the question away, she responded by getting even redder and speeding her speech up even more. "Y-yeah! I'm fine, haha, don't worry about me!"

Oblivious, Kirito shrugged. "Okay."

Wanting to get away from he situation as quickly as possible, Sinon quickly made an excuse to leave the room. "I'm gonna go downstairs to get some food, okay?" She moved to unlock the door and turn the knob.

"Um, Sinon? You're still in your pyjamas." Kirito said innocently, as if to annoy her.

"O-oh! Right!" She quickly opened her inventory to equip her casual wear, and stepped outside- closing the door behind her. Leaning against the wall for support once she was outside, she allowed herself to catch her breath. She couldn't really decide how she felt around Kirito, much less what she felt towards him. She slowly made her way down the stairs, to see the innkeeper from before.

"Miss, is that young man alright? Yesterday you and that tall one carried him in here, and I haven't seen him since."

Sinon narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Most NPCs wouldn't even say anything unless you said something to them first, much less care or even remember who the players were with.

"He's alright… Why do you ask?" She was curious.

"I was just wondering if he wanted a warm cooked meal, on the house, of course, for the trouble he's been through."

"I'm sure he would… Would you make it?"

"I… will not. However, I can teach you." The familiar quest marker popped up over his head.

 _So this is why he was talking to me? Do guys like that kind of stuff? When you can cook for them?_ She worried, though it was buried deep in her subconscious, to her it was just a slight feeling of discomfort, of which she couldn't determine the source. "Sure… I guess." She said, activating the quest.

"Okay! Come with me." The man said, gesturing to a door at the back that Sinon could only assume lead to the kitchen.

* * *

Kirito had decided to stay, though for what reason he didn't really know. He just couldn't stand the idea of leaving Sinon behind. That had gotten him thinking about her. Specifically, how she fought, and what she was like. She had always wielded a dagger, and using throwing picks, and more recently, throwing knives. The main advantage of using a dagger was that you acquired a high stealth damage bonus, great for thief-type characters, but Sinon used neither of those, as she wasn't one to steal, and typically always charged headfirst into battle. _She seems most confident with long-ranged weapons… She always seems a little awkward holding a sword, and her dagger skills are amazing, but she looks like she'd rather be using something else…_ That's when something clicked in his mind. _Of course! That'd be her perfect weapon…_ He didn't realize he had been there for almost 45 minutes until the lock on the door clicked.

"Kirito, could you open the door? My hands are kind of full!" Came a muffled voice from outside.

"Yeah, no prob!" Kirito yelled back, as he walked towards the door to open it. As soon as he turned the knob, the door pushed open, Sinon walking in with a basket. A mouth-watering smell wafted into the room. "Wha-what is that smell?" Kirito almost drooled, his stomach emitting an insistent growling noise.

"Your breakfast." Sinon said, nonchalantly. She pulled the handkerchief off of the top of the basket to reveal two plates of perfectly fried eggs, with toast and bacon. A stereotypical American breakfast, quite popular in Japan. Kirito's hand raised to take one of the plates set inside the basket, but Sinon slapped it away. "What do you say?"

"Please? Thank you? I'll do anything you want, I promise!" Kirito pleaded.

Giggling uncontrollably at Kirito's weakness for food, she gave up on teasing him. "Oh, whatever, just take one." She said, through gasps for air inbetween her fits of laughter. _I knew that quest would be worth it…_

"Wow… That was good…" Kirito sighed as he leaned back in his chair, across the table from Sinon. "How did you even raise your cooking skill that high? Last time we did… anything like this, you said neither of us had a cooking skill high enough to make anything good?"

Planning to tease him, Sinon dodged the question. "You don't have faith in my cooking skills? I'm hurt."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Kirito decided not to press, as he figured he probably wouldn't be able to find out, and it wasn't really worth knowing. The quest the innkeeper had offered her took about thirty minutes to complete, and basically had her make a bunch of dishes and use a whole plethora of different appliances. It raised her cooking skill to an astonishing 500, exactly halfway to maxed.

Not that she was going to let anybody know that, of course. It was like a shortcut, forgoing weeks, maybe even months of cooking three meals a day. She might've felt slightly embarrassed, but it was a quest in the game, so she shouldn't feel bad about it. Right?

Just then, Kirito spoke again. "Hey, Sinon… just before you came in, I was thinking- about your fighting style. Your main weapon is a dagger, but you seem to like staying back and throwing picks and throwing knives better, and you always look really awkward when you hold a sword. You're already over four months in… what's up?" He said, his face returning to his resting expression, one of a serious disposition.

Narrowing her eyes briefly, Sinon was taken by surprise at his seemingly random question… and more importantly, how he had gathered all that about her, when he hadn't seen her in four months. "How do you know all of this?" She asked.

"Did you ever see that person in the black cloak fighting on the front lines?" He asked.

"Yeah! Everybody thought he was going to die because he had no party. They'd always joke and say he didn't have one because he was a beater and nobody… wait, WAS THAT YOU?!" She burst out, connecting the dots.

"Ahem. I was not going to die- I'm better than that. But yeah, that was me." He leaned back in his seat again, after being startled by Sinon's sudden outburst. He was suddenly aware of a glowing dagger being pointed at his face. "A-ah… Sinon? What's wrong?" He asked, a slight sliver of fear making him break out in cold sweats. Her eyes were set in hard stone.

"That was you… the whole time… AND YOU NEVER FREAKIN' SAID ANYTHING? YOU STUPID-" She began to yell, until she regained her composure and put the knife down with a slam. "Okay…" She said, shakily. "I know you had your reasons… but still, you had us worried to death and you were right under our noses?" Her eyes were closed, presumably from her efforts to calm herself down, and to avoid stabbing Kirito in the face.

"U-uhm yeah, you know, I'm really sorry about that and I probably shouldn't have…" He trailed off. "But I wanted to make it up to you!" He said, with renewed vigour. "Wanna party up for a few days?" He asked cheerfully.

"Aren't you a solo player, though?" She asked, surprised at the request.

"Well, yeah, but I've gotta make it up to you somehow." Kirito rubbed the back of his neck. Standing up from his chair, he sent Sinon an invite before equipping all of his gear.

Cautiously pressing accept, Sinon also stood up and followed suit. "Where are we going?" She asked, her voice laced with a hint of suspicion.

"What, you don't have faith in my questing skills?" Kirito teased. "I'm hurt."

* * *

"REMIND ME AGAIN WHY WE'RE HERE?!" Sinon leapt back, as a giant axe crashed down and buried itself in the ground where she had just been standing.

Kirito had troubles of his own, as he just managed to parry an axe strike hard enough to send it into the ground a mere three inches from his foot. He grit his teeth as he yelled back. "I HONESTLY DON'T REMEMBER!"

The two had been having exchanges like this for a while now, as they fought the creatures in the dungeon- which was supposed to lead to a field boss. Only Kirito knew what they were here for, but he kept it hidden from Sinon in an effort to surprise her when the time came. The monsters they were fighting were called Ents, living tree-type creatures that were slow, but had immense strength and size. They wielded two-handed battle-axes, and if they hit you, you were probably dead.

Sinon yelled as she charged her assailant, and ran it through with her dagger, which was small, but did a surprising amount of damage. The Ent broke into a thousand shards, before Kirito did the same to his.

"Seriously. I don't know how many more of these things I can take." Sinon said, panting.

Kirito stretched his sword arm- he had put a substantial amount of points into stamina, as well as strength and agility. "I could do this all day." He shrugged. "Besides, you won't have to. We're almost to the field boss."

"The hell!? You want us to solo a field boss?" Sinon was incredulous.

"Relax, we'll be fine." Kirito patted her head, an action that only served to annoy her. "It's not hard."

Sinon puffed out her cheeks. "It better not be…"

Kirito turned to start walking deeper into the dungeon, Sinon following a step behind. "Hey, Kirito. Seriously though, why are we here? Does it have anything to do with my weapon choice?"

"I can't tell you." Kirito laughed.

"Why not?"

"Shh." Kirito put his finger to his lips as they ran into a clearing, holding his other hand up as a signal to stop. "We're here." He whispered, pointing to an ancient, looking tree in the centre of the clearing. "If you stay quiet, we should be able to get a massive stealth bonus on our first attacks."

"Roger." Sinon nodded, and snuck off to the left, while Kirito took the right. They had made it three quarters of the way there, when suddenly, _CRACK!_ She hissed at the sound. Her head snapped over to look at Kirito, who had a panicked look on his face, a broken stick under his foot. _God damn… Seriously?_ She didn't have much time to complain, however, as the ground began to rumble, and the lone giant tree in the clearing began to rise, and turn, revealing a weathered face that looks tens of thousands of years old. The ambient music became more urgent and frantic, and the name 'Ancient Ent' appeared above the field boss, as well as three health bars.

"Welp. There goes our stealth bonus." Kirito sighed, as he readied himself for combat. Sinon could only roll her eyes.

* * *

Sinon and Kirito simultaneously flourished their weapons and sheathed them. They had developed quite a fighting style together, they were a dynamic duo. As their respective reward windows popped up, Sinon saw that Kirito had one more entry than she did, presumably his last attack bonus, though they had attacked together.

"So," Sinon said, hiding her dismay. "What'd you get?"

"Close your eyes." He said, dodging her question.

"What? Why?" Sinon was confused.

"Just do it."

Did she trust him? Sure, why not? It's not like he would kill her. _Fine_ , Sinon thought, as she put her hands over her eyes. She only heard the sounds of someone tapping through their menu, and the sound of an item being materialized.

"Okay, you can open them again." Kirito said, and she did. What she saw utterly astonished her. In his hands, held out to her, was a gleaming silver bow.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yeah so it's sort of a fluffy chapter, but I wanted to get some good Sinoto time in there. Can't call it Swords and Bows for nothing! Also, looks like a bit of Asuna has made her way into Sinon, making her pretty OOC, but that's okay! Cuz what would a fanfiction be without a little OOC-ness? Anyway, I promise only one more chapter until the huge time skip- next chapter will just be Sinon adjusting to her bow and maybe a boss fight of some sort. Again, special thanks to my co-conspirators in this whole thing, Reaper2908, for the great plot ideas (I'm gonna be honest I'm one of those people that never does any planning or an outline), and Crimiduck for catching those grammar and spelling issues that I don't. Thanks guys, that should be all for today! EDIT: Oops I forgot a horizontal line. That's a game-breaker, big no-no. Anyway, fixed now, should probably make more sense.

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	9. Together?

**A/N:** This is the last chapter before that time skip I tease so often. Promise! On another, more serious note, we have recently exceeded three thousand views! Holy crap. When I posted my first chapter of my first fanfiction, I never expected attention like this. So thank you all, for your continuing support! :D Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Nine - Together?

* * *

Kirito's jaw stayed on the ground as Sinon hit each target dead centre, one after the other. "Holy… You're good. How? I thought the unique skill you got was only at level one?"

Sinon shrugged. "My eyesight is 2.0."

"2.0!? That's double the average person's!" Kirito gawked even more.

"Eh. Anyway, it turns out that stuff like that carries over into the game… Though how the game got that data, I'm not sure. Anyway, I really love it. Thanks!" She stepped up to Kirito and gave him a hug, which was returned awkwardly. This was on some sort of random impulse, however, and she backed away just as quickly as she had hugged him. She looked at the ground, not wanting to meet Kirito's eyes. She had been having random little impulses and urges like this since she had found him in the dungeon, though she had no idea why. She never could establish a single word to describe her feelings for Kirito. It definitely wasn't hate, not anymore, at least. It wasn't acquaintance, and it definitely wasn't best friend. So what was it?

"Haha, don't worry about it. I just wanted to make it up to you for leaving you like that…" Kirito rubbed the back of his neck, a common gesture that Sinon had come to interpret as a blend of nervousness and awkwardness. "Player blacksmiths can't craft arrows yet though, according to the Rat. I guess either you'll have to learn, or you can buy them from NPCs? Because I was going to request some made for you when I visit the blacksmith today, but that kinda puts a bullet through my plan."

Upon hearing the word 'bullet,' Sinon froze. It was all she could do to not curl up into a ball and start to hyperventilate, as she was reminded of that incident in the post office years ago, leaving her with intense PTSD. Before she knew it, her vision went black, her reality replaced with a familiar gun in her hands, and a man struggling to breathe in front of her, two gaping holes in his chest, blood leaking from both. _Why is he not dead!?_ Sinon screamed in her mind, raising the gun to pull the trigger a third time. This time, the bullet drilled a whole in the man's forehead, and he crashed to the floor, blood splashing onto the floor, and pooling around him. Her head pounded, attacks like this always gave her terrible migraines. She dry heaved- but nothing came out. Nothing like that was programmed into the game.

Kirito shook her once. Twice. She wouldn't get up, she wouldn't acknowledge his presence at all. "Did I do something wrong?" He wondered aloud. He waited like that until Sinon's breathing calmed, and she shakily stood up, with the help of Kirito's arms.

"S-sorry," Her voice was as shaky as her hands. "It's just, I don't do very well with g-guns…"

"I-I'm sorry, Sinon! I didn't know." Kirito sputtered frantically, to apologize.

"No, It's not your fault." Sinon said, more composed. "I don't tell anybody about it."

Deciding not to press, Kirito quickly changed the topic. "Oh crap, it's getting late! I have to get to that blacksmith I was talking about!"

"Okay." Sinon said, admittedly a little disappointed that Kirito had to go. "See you, then."

"Bye!" Kirito called, as he ran off, towards the town's teleport gate.

* * *

Lisbeth looked up as the bell connected to the door of her shop rang. _That's another customer…_ Taking off her gloves and making her way to the door, she checked her hair in the mirror on the way. _Perfect!_ She always liked to tell herself this, though her hair never changed. She was in a virtual world. Opening the door, she cheerfully said her customary greeting. "Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop!"

"Hey Liz!" A boy a bit taller than her, all dressed in black was examining her collection. "I wanted to order a custom sword? I brought you the material I wanted it to be made out of."

 _Does he have enough money? Last time he was here…_ Lisbeth was skeptical. "Well, what kind of sword were you looking for? And can I see that material?" She asked, bypassing all formalities, seeing as it was Kirito.

"No problem." Kirito materialized the items, and handed them to Lisbeth. He also took out his current sword. "Hmm… About as long as this, but maybe better for this sort of stance?" Kirito settled into his unique reverse-grip stance.

Lisbeth looked him up and down. _What the hell kind of stance is that? Sure, he seems composed, but doesn't that put him at a disadvantage?_ She then looked down at the items Kirito had pulled out. They were random lumps of black metal, called "Meteor Fragments" Lisbeth's eyes widened in shock as she recognized the material. _This is an S-class rare metal! How the hell did he get his hands on this stuff?_ "Well, I guess I can do that." Lisbeth said. "Come with me." She said, as she led him back to her forge.

Kirito watched in awe as Lisbeth handled the tools around her forge effortlessly. Slowly but surely, a sword blade emerged. On the final strike of her hammer, the sword materialized completely. The blade looked as if it was made from the night sky; the black drank in the light, while little white dots reflected it perfectly, making it look like small stars had been set into it. The guard was small, and the handle was simple, wrapped in leather in a cross-pattern, with one difference from a regular sword. The grip had finger grooves in one side, allowing easier use of Kirito's signature reverse-grip style. "It's name is Nightbringer." Lisbeth wiped the sweat from her brow. "Damn, blade crafting sure is oversimplified in this game, but it's still tiring as all hell."

"Wow… Thanks, Liz! How much do I owe you?"

Lisbeth grinned. She could definitely make money off of this one. "How about… 300,000 cor?" She grinned evilly.

"Oh come on, Liz, That's hardcore expensive. Think you could make it a little cheaper, for me?" He didn't really expect her to give in, and could almost feel the emptiness of his virtual wallet already.

"Nope! That thing's a masterpiece, and will be treated as such!" Liz was adamant.

"Alright… Fine." Kirito sullenly opened his menu and forked the money over.

"Yes! Thanks, Kirito."

"No problem…" Kirito grumbled. He was about to add something else, when the door opened and the bell rang again. In walked Asuna, with what looked like a broken rapier. As soon as she saw Kirito, she dropped the two halves of her rapier, allowing them to hit the ground and disintegrate.

"That was one of my greatest works, too…" Lisbeth muttered, dejectedly, eliciting a laugh from Kirito.

"Kirito!" She rushed forwards and tackled him with a hug. "H-hey, Asuna." His voice was muffled by her hair. She stepped back and almost slapped him, but stopped herself.

"God damn you, Kirito! How could you!?" She had started to cry.

 _Oh great, I have to go through all of this again…_ Kirito fell back into the pit he had dug for himself.

* * *

"So yeah." Kirito finished his story, and Asuna hugged him once again. "You idiot!"

"Kirito… I didn't know… I'm so sorry." Lisbeth said, hands clasped together in front of her.

For the third time, the bell rang, and a gust of wind accompanied the door being opened. A familiar voice rang out, though Kirito couldn't see who it came from, as Asuna was still taking up his full field of vision. "U-uhm, sorry! Am I interrupting something? I can come back later, if you want?"

Behind her façade, Sinon wanted to strangle Asuna, again, for what reason she didn't know why. She had always been good with her emotions, but recently, and increasingly, she couldn't tell why she was feeling what she was, when she did. It was mostly around Kirito, however, but she didn't want to admit that he was the cause. This feeling was only slightly relieved when she jumped back from him at the sound of her voice.

"Sinon! Weird meeting you here, huh?" Asuna said, sweetly.

"Hey, Asuna!" The mock innocence in her voice was apparent, as Asuna picked up on it and was taken aback.

Wanting to stop an impending explosion between the two, Kirito quickly stepped in. "Oi, Liz! I wanted to ask you something else!" He winked at Sinon, which was reacted to by her looking up from staring at Asuna intently. "Do you think you might be able to make arrows with the material left from my sword?" He asked.

"Why would you ask that? It's not like anybody in the game has a bow…" She trailed off as she saw Sinon's silver bow, string over her shoulder, keeping it suspended without the need for her to hold it, or a strap of any kind. "How the heck did you get that!?" She asked.

"Do you mean how _I_ got it?" Kirito said, with mock hurt. "I gave it to her, after all."

"Oh sure, I did more damage to that boss and you know it. You just got the last attack bonus!" Sinon retorted.

Kirito laughed. "Anyway Liz, can you?"

Surprisingly, she answered in the affirmative. "Yeah, actually! I got the 'Arrow-making' skill a while ago, but I thought it would be useless. I guess not. Anyway, I didn't spend much time levelling it, so these might not be the best… But I can try!"

"Sure, Liz. Thanks!" Kirito said, giving her the rest of his leftover material.

A few minutes later, and Sinon was in possession of approximately sixty-four new black arrows, that matched the colour of Kirito's sword.

"I gotta say, Liz- you've really outdone yourself with these!" Kirito patted her on the back. "Good job!"

"Sinon, can we see your skills with a bow?" Asuna put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Sure." Sinon said, containing her excitement. After all, who doesn't like to show off a unique skill?

* * *

After they had watched Sinon shoot, all of them had sat under a little tree next to the training area, talking about various experiences on the front lines, and in Lisbeth's case, some of her less-than-competent customers. "You know, Sinon's not the only one with an extra skill." Lisbeth interjected, eyeing Kirito's new sword.

"Kirito, you do too!?" The others exclaimed.

"More than one, actually." Kirito used this opportunity to brag a little. "Two. But I'll only show you one today." He said, as he got up, stretching his sword arm.

"Can we see it?" The girls all asked, simultaneously.

"Sure." Kirito laughed, as he drew his new sword, Nightbringer, and stepped up to a dummy, assuming his strange reverse-gripped stance. Drawing his sword to his side, it started to glow a light violet, as he unleashed one of the combos from his sword skill, called Zatōs Creed. As he finished his series of flips and rolls, swipes and slashes, the girls all started clapping.

"No way… How many hits was that?!" Sinon asked, incredulously. This display had only added to her admiration of Kirito's skills.

"It's an eighteen-hit combo, I think." He put his hand on his chin in a thinking gesture.

Asuna spat out the water she was drinking. "Eigh-eighteen!? O-oops… Sorry, Liz. Hehe…" She turned a bright shade of red.

Everybody looked over to see Liz trying as hard as she could to keep a straight face, her hair and chin dripping with water. The laughter could be heard all throughout the town.

* * *

Later that day, Kirito and Sinon had free time. Sinon had been talking about how she had always wanted blue hair and blue eyes, and did in the beta test, but the mirror had made her look like real life again.

"Hey, Sinon. Lemme take you somewhere." Kirito had said. He'd grabbed her hand, leading her to a storefront that had the large words- BARBER/COSMETICS.

Now, Sinon looked at her own face in the mirror. The same snowy-blue hair from the beta-test greeted her again, sending a wave of nostalgia over her. Her blue eyes had also returned, courtesy of the menu presented to her when she sat down in the 'waiting area'. "Wow… Thanks, Kirito!" She said, once again feeling that weird twinge in her chest. He had offered to pay for her, a grand total of 350 cor. Seeing that it was decently late at that point, they decided to retire for the night.

In the interests of saving money, Kirito and Sinon had opted for only one room with two beds. Kirito was almost broke from spending the money on his new sword, and Sinon didn't want to spend money on getting him a room, but neither did she want to make him sleep outside, or worse, spend the night with Klein, or god forbid, Lisbeth or Asuna.

As they lay in their beds, staring at the ceiling, Kirito spoke up for the first time in almost twenty minutes. "Hey, Sinon. What would you think if I decided to stay partied up with you for the rest of the game? We make a pretty good team, you and I." he said, voice serious.

"We do." Sinon admitted. "I would love it if you stayed." And just like that, once again, for a reason she couldn't quite put her finger on, the twinge in her chest intensified. Maybe it was the thought that from now on, if they did anything, they'd do it together.

* * *

 **A/N** **:** Okay! I've got a lot of things to cover here. First things first, I'll [try] not to make this a love triangle, or do the whole harem thing. Just tossing Asuna in there because we haven't seen her for a while. XD. Also, gotta have that jealousy going! Poor Sinon, don't think she's ever experienced anything like that before. We're going to be getting back to serious stuff soon! Or back to another fluff chapter, if you guys like those. You decide! Secondly, YAY! I figured out a way to give Sinon her signature blue hair and eyes back. Enter the GGO badass we all know and love! Finally, don't expect another chapter until... Friday? Don't get me wrong, I love you guys, but I've gotta help cup-of-sleuth on that Silica chapter you guys are all eagerly awaiting... Right? Aand I guess you could call this big time skip my break. I honestly had this chapter ready yesterday, but that would've been two updates on the same day, and everybody knows that's not good marketing strategies XD. Yep, kind of a long winded author's note, but thanks for reading, guys! That should be all!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	10. The Forest

**A/N:** Some OC action! Don't worry, he won't be too important, just helps with my motivation. Sorry for the long gap, and enjoy!

* * *

Ten - The Forest

* * *

 _October 17, 2024_

"Ahh… It's a really nice day today," Kirito mused and clasped his hands behind his head, walking with Sinon in the luscious green forests of floor 74. They had spent the whole day clearing in the labyrinth that was the floor 74 dungeon.

"Idiot… You're saying that after you almost got killed three times?" Sinon joked.

"I had it all under control! There's no way I could've died." He playfully jabbed at Sinon's midsection in an attempt to tickle her.

"Pfft. That's because I was always covering you." Sinon retorted, after she had recovered from Kirito's attack.

"That's exactly why I stopped playing solo way back when…" Kirito trailed off. "Do you hear that?"

Sinon's ears perked up, in an attempt to figure out what Kirito was hearing. "Hear what?" She whispered, just in case it was dangerous. She looked at Kirito, and recognized the green glow of the tracking skill in his eyes.

"No way…" He muttered, and moved his fingers to draw two throwing picks from his belt. Taking one in his left hand and leaving one in his right hand, Kirito drew his arm back, activating the distract subskill. The throwing pick hit a tree, and from behind a fallen log nearby, jumped a small but plump lavender-white coloured animal. Kirito had predicted this, and another throwing pick was being sent to it's mark before the animal had hit the ground.

Sinon's eyes widened as the animal shattered, and the forest around them returned to silence, except for the two. She swore, she recognized that animal from a certain info broker's handbook… It looked kind of like a rabbit, but with long, flowing ears.

"Si-Sinon… Look at this!" Kirito stuttered, as he flicked the rewards window in front of him around for her to see.

"T-this is an S-class rare item!" She shrieked. "I can't believe your luck…" She added, under her breath.

"Yeah, looks like it's called 'Ragout Rabbit'. But there's no way I'd be able to cook it… My cooking skill is only like 200, so I'd probably just burn it if I tried." He mused, almost ignoring the blue-haired sniper at his side.

"Kirito~…" Sinon said cheerfully, in a sing-song voice.

"SINON!" He smacked his forehead. "What's your cooking level now?"

"Well," Sinon put a finger to her cheek innocently. "I maxed it out a while ago."

In an unexpected move, Kirito took Sinon's hands in his own. "Let me make you a deal, Sinon… If you cook it for me, I'll give you half?" He said, eyes hopeful.

"Sure." Sinon shrugged. "It's not like we live in the same house or anything…"

* * *

Kirito sat back and sighed. "That was really good… I guess it pays to level your cooking skill…"

Sinon sat back as well. "Of course it does, dummy. You still have to eat in this game, you know." She closed her eyes and sipped out of her teacup.

"Hey Sinon, what do you say we take a break from the front lines for a few days?" He asked.

"You know Heathcliff won't be happy about it."

"Screw Heathcliff, it's not like we're in his guild." Kirito shrugged.

"We're still gonna have to talk to him, you know."

Kirito sighed, knowing it wasn't going to be easy. "Yeah, I know. Let's do it tomorrow?" He asked, because Sinon still hadn't answered his original question.

"Yeah sure, a little free time doesn't sound bad at all. What could go wrong, right?"

Kirito gave a fake exasperated sigh. "Every time you say that, everything goes wrong…"

"But seriously! There's no way anything will go wrong this time. I promise." Sinon bantered, mostly to annoy the black swordsman.

"Just shut up…" Kirito muttered, jokingly. He got up from his seat and began to make his way down the hall. "Anyway, I'm going to get to sleep. It's getting late, and I'm gonna have to get ready to have that talk with Heathcliff… He's probably gonna ask me to do something crazy, like duel him, or join the Knights of the Blood again… Ha."

His voice receded as he stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. Sinon took the time to admire the home that the two owned. They had used up about half of their savings to buy a home on floor 61 - in the town of Selmburg. Sinon knew that Asuna lived there as well, but most high-level and rich players did. It was certainly the most luxurious floor the clearers had yet discovered. Having been to Asuna's house a few times, Sinon knew that most of the homes in Selmburg had much the same layout, with a large foyer and living room space, which was connected to the kitchen. A hallway leading out of the living room went to the bedrooms and bathrooms, of which there were 3 of each. The houses wouldn't be considered big nor small, but perhaps a word such as "cozy" would have been used. The interiors certainly had a welcoming ambient light, emitted from he virtual candles that lit the homes.

 _There are some days I can't even remember what it's like back there…_ Sinon pondered. _It's like I was born here and raised here all my life. Of course, I met Kirito here as well… I'm not sure if I want to go back to the real world._ She was sure other players felt like this too. Lately, the numbers of players fighting on the front lines had been dwindling, with people acclimating to life in this world, and some even enjoying it more than life in the real world. It was to be expected, though. After all, it was a game. Thinking about Kirito, however, she was once again confronted with her feelings for him… And what they were. She had struggled with her feelings for more than a year. Around six months in, however, she arrived at one stunning conclusion. One that she had been avoiding wherever possible, whenever possible. _L-love? Am I in love with Kirito?_

Sinon shook herself out of her thoughts and looked at the wall-mounted clock, which was one of traditional design. It read 10:39. _It's getting late._ Sinon thought to herself. _I should get to sleep._

* * *

"And that's why we're requesting a leave of absence from the front lines. Sinon and Kirito currently stood in the Knights of the Blood Oath's headquarters, a large, sparsely decorated building with large windows, letting in equally large amounts of light. Over the long table in the middle of the room hung three red banners, presumably one for each position behind the table. On the right sat Asuna, and on the left, a player that Sinon didn't really know, but saw often enough in the boss fights to know that he was an STR/AGI player, just like Kirito. He was probably another subcommander of some sort. In the centre sat Heathcliff himself, the tank regarded as "The Paladin", because of his impenetrable defence. Nobody had ever seen his health drop into the yellow section.

"Hmm…" Heathcliff closed his eyes, presumably to think.

A masculine voice arose from the cloaked figure sitting to the left of the commander. "With all due respect sir, I've seen these two fight, and they are some of our best players! It would be insane to-"

"That's enough, Eclipse. Besides, you're more than capable of holding your own at this floor." Heathcliff interjected. Eclipse bit his lip, trying not to say anything else. "Have these two not done enough to deserve a break? Nothing has been happening recently, so I believe there is no harm done." He ruled. "You two may go."

Sinon could hear Kirito mutter a quiet "Yes!" as they turned to leave. However, before she left, she examined the player at Heathcliff's left. He wore a long flowing white coat, not unlike Kirito's own black one, with what she could only guess was a katana in his lap. His hair was short and black, and was styled in a way that made it look slightly messy, but you could tell it still had form to it. His irises almost matched the colour of his hair, and he had a vertical scar over one eyelid. That was all she could catch before she and Kirito descended the stairs.

"Whew! That was easier than I thought it'd be." Kirito sighed.

"Why? It's not like there's going to be a boss raid tomorrow…" Sinon muttered under her breath. "Speaking of boss raids… What do you think about that Eclipse guy, huh?" She asked.

"He's probably stronger than you think he is." Kirito's face became serious. "Even though he says we're the stronger players, don't sell him short. He uses this crazy katana technique that you probably don't see much because you're always at the back sniping, but I see it ever time we go to a boss raid. He keeps the katana in it's sheath until the last moment, then he unsheathes it and cuts in one fluid motion, then sheathes it again. Sometimes, he even uses its sheath to block. Weird, huh? I think he calls it… Iaijutsu?"

Sinon contemplated the idea. It sounded too weird to be true. _Not unsheathing your sword until the last second? That's unheard of… It would rely on an unnatural level of calmness… And a high reaction speed._

Kirito continued. "And with a name like Eclipse… He must have been one of the earliest beta testers, to not have that name taken before he could sign up for it. I wonder why the K.O.B. recruited a beater?"

"Don't say that, Kirito. They invited you too, you just refused." Sinon pouted.

"Yeah, because it meant more time with you!" Kirito said, jokingly. Realizing what he had just said, he quickly covered it up by continuing, "Well, what do you want to do, hmm?"

"Well," Sinon seemed to have missed it, thankfully. "How about we visit floor 22 again? It's super nice out today, and it's probably only going to be better there." She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the teleport gate.

"Oh yeah! Good idea." Kirito always enjoyed a good nap on floor 22, which, he wouldn't admit to Sinon, was the main reason he kept letting her take him there.

"Wow!" Sinon breathed, before she had even fully materialized. The view from the teleport gate, which was situated on a hill overlooking the floor, was truly amazing. The trees were a healthy bright green, which perfectly complemented the glistening lake set in the middle of the floor. "I was right, wasn't I?" She said, as she stepped off of the platform, and began to walk along the boardwalk that lead to the main settlement of the floor.

"Sure you were." Kirito grumbled, not particularly pleased with Sinon's teasing. He also had the feeling he wouldn't be able to take a nap, though he couldn't exactly put his finger on why.

As they walked in the woods, Sinon and Kirito exchanged friendly banter, and teasing. "Hey Kirito, I can't help but notice that Argo seems to have been getting pretty close to you lately…" She said, with a sly grin.

"Maybe it's because I'm letting her." Kirito retorted, and Sinon could only bite her lip. Her playful jaunt had backfired. "Just kidding." He said, ruffling her hair.

"Hey!" Sinon ducked away, her hands going to her powdery-blue hair, to try and fix the damages done. This continued for quite some time, even after they passed the settlement, on their way to their favourite hillside.

* * *

"Shh!" Kirito said sharply, holding a finger to his lips.

Sinon continued laughing, recovering from Kirito's last joke. "Why, is it another Ragout Rabbit?"

"Seriously, Sinon!"

"Oh come on, I'm not detecting anything… And plus, there's nothing on floor 22 we can't take."

"Sinon!" He whispered more frantically. "Stop!"

"Oh, alright." She quieted down. "What is it?"

Suddenly, Kirito drew his sword and held it out in front of him, scanning for enemies. "Whoever it is, come out!"

Confused, Sinon started to draw her dagger, to be safe. Before it had exited the sheath however, her vision was suddenly filled with figures jumping out of bushes, from behind trees, and landing from above, all wearing tattered brown cloaks.

* * *

As fluttering cloaks and black gloves holding scythes and axes filled their vision, Kirito and Sinon pressed their backs to each other, covering the other's vulnerabilities, and bolstering their strengths.

"It's been a while, Kirito! But we're back for you!" A voice cackled.

As the large group of cloaked players surrounded them, only one thought ran through Kirito's mind. _Laughing Coffin!_

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, here's the chapter! I didn't have much motivation for this chapter until today, so that's when I wrote it! Also, I proofread it myself, because I just wanted to see what I needed to improve upon and watch for in the future, so that Crimiduck has less to do. And thank you to Reaper for the idea. He didn't directly present it, but really helped with the formation of it. Also, an OC, named Eclipse! Score 1 for cool name. Haha, in all seriousness though, I kind of want to model him after me, (I even took an online quiz to determine my sword style,) I'm not going to lie about that. He just brings back a lot of the original motivation I had in writing this story. Don't worry, he's not going to be too OP or canon-breaking or anything like that. I think we're getting near the end of the story; I doubt it's even going to be 20 chapters long. I just want to start that new spec ops concept! Anyway, that should be all this time, let's hope my next update doesn't take so long!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	11. Trapped

**A/N:** I'm back! Winter break is on, so updates (should) come faster! That, and I'm starting a new story. Details below :D. Without any further ado, please enjoy!

* * *

Eleven - Trapped

* * *

"Ugh. My head…" Sinon groaned, before clamping a hand over her mouth. _Crap! That was loud._ She held her breath for a good count of five. When she heard nothing, she exhaled a breath, causing herself to choke on saliva. _What the hell?_ She just then realized that she couldn't see anything. And the ache in her head didn't just feel painful… Her head felt heavy. _I'm upside down!_ She started to feel rage building up inside her. Who the hell dared to just knock her out and hang her up? The next thing she became aware of were the bonds around her wrists, rubbing them raw, and the rope tied around her ankles. _What happened?_ Sinon silently groaned again. She and Kirito had been ambushed in the forest. And… And then what? That's right, they had surrendered and decided to come up with a plan once captured, hoping that the LC members didn't just kill them on the spot. But now… They had been knocked unconscious, and by the sounds of it, as it was pitch black, they had been separated, too. Sinon wiggled her wrists to see how much give the bonds had. _Perfect._ She flicked her fingers, wincing at the sound of the menu being opened. Doing her best to navigate the menu from memory, as she couldn't see it behind her, she prayed that she'd somehow be able to activate her searching skill, and her night vision subskill. As the last menu press rang out through the room she was in, her vision brightened until her surroundings were clear. _Bingo._

As far as Sinon could see, the room she was hanging from the ceiling in was made of rough-hewn rock, and the slim hallway that she could only see the entrance to was more of the same. _A cave?_ _Pretty fitting that LC would make a base in a place like this, actually._ Looking up to her feet, she saw that the ropes around her ankles were tied around a hook screwed into the ceiling. She had always wondered what that decoration was for- it was one of the things she and Kirito had skipped over when furnishing their house on floor 61. _Kirito! I have to get out!_ Sinon, with renewed motivation, began to swing back and forth on the hook, a clear plan forming in her mind. As her momentum increased, adrenaline built up in her virtual bloodstream, slowing everything down and allowing her to think more clearly. Finally, the rope binding her ankles slipped off the edge of the hook, and she began to fall to the ground. According to plan, she made sure her wrists hit the ground hard, and the durability of the bonds hit zero, breaking apart into little crystals. Sinon rubbed her wrists before opening her inventory to equip her dagger. The sharp blade easily sliced through the rope around her ankles, and she was free of her captivation. She got to her feet and began moving towards the narrow entrance to the visible hall with only one thought in her mind. _Kirito._

* * *

 _Crap! I can't go on like this!_ Kirito thought, as he parried another strike. He had been fighting LC members ever since he'd taken out the guards in charge of keeping an eye on him. He had escaped his bonds quietly, before taking them out. He was well aware of the cave he was in- he had heard that LC had made a base there, but he'd never wanted to actually find out. Running through hall after hall, finding Sinon was his first priority. He'd occasionally come to other players that he would've had no trouble defeating- except for the fact that he was only trying to disable them, not kill them, which slowed the process exponentially. Now surrounded by three of them in a space that was uncomfortably small, Kirito not only had to leave a lot of weak points exposed, he also had a harder time inflicting non-fatal wounds. In the corner of his eye, he saw another blade swinging towards his exposed right flank, and his sword was nowhere near where he needed it to be. He grit his teeth, preparing for the pain. _Guess I'm going to take another one…_ Kirito gasped as the blade sunk into his avatar, leaving a deep gash through the right side of his waist. Tumbling a good four feet, he quickly scrambled up again, holding his side. _Damn._ Intending to end it, he quickly stabbed two in the legs, and slashed the third across the knees. They all stumbled to the ground, disabled from the pain. Panting, Kirito turned to continue running down the hall he was in. Free of any direct threat, Kirito started to feel doubt. _Where am I? What the hell am I even doing? I don't know where Sinon is! Honestly, she might even be dead, and I wouldn't know! Maybe I should just give up. No, I can't. If I was missing, Sinon wouldn't stop looking for me- that's for goddamned sure!_ Kirito mentally chastised himself for his self-doubt. He had promised himself to never give up, so he wouldn't. Not now, not when Sinon needed him.

Hall after hall, Kirito found nothing. Until he came to a large room, though it had a low ceiling- almost empty, except for what looked like a ten-foot tall minotaur-type monster. _Probably a field boss the LC members just keep farming, for EXP and Cor…_ Kirito guessed. _Solo-ing even a field boss is generally not recommended… But I have no other options!_ Kirito looked around, for signs of any other person- even though there was most definitely none- he was pretty sure he had effectively disabled most of the players in the area. _I guess it's a good as time as ever to use it…_ Kirito thought, opening his inventory.

The sound of metal scraping on metal alerted the boss to the presence of a player. It turned around just in time to witness a second sword escaping it's scabbard, finding itself in the left hand of what looked like a very capable swordsman. With a roar, Kirito charged forward as the boss's health bars materialized. Five of them, and the name above his head: _The Silver-Eyed Beast_. With the intention of clearing the boss fast, he activated his first dual-blades sword skill: _Starburst Stream._

Kirito, however, made a fatal mistake. He had started the skill while he was in midair, and with the low ceilings of the room, there was a good chan- _CRUNCH!_ The loud sound echoed through the chambers of the cave. Kirito's sword was firmly impaled in the rock overhead. He had a bad feeling, and the boss seemed to sense it too, as it stopped attacking and began to look around. It wasn't long before Kirito's blade began to slip out of the ceiling, however, and it took Kirito with it.

 _CRACK!_ Another loud sound. This one wasn't from a sword penetrating the roof, though. He looked up to see cracks spreading from the newly-created puncture hole in the rock. "That's not good." He said aloud, voicing his thoughts. "I really need to get out of here." He spoke again- to nobody but himself. He quickly got up, and returning his swords to his sheathes, he quickly ran the way he had come, forgetting about finding Sinon, for the time being.

* * *

 _BANG!_ A cacophony echoed throughout the cavern. _What the hell was that?_ Sinon took a moment to allow her heart to stop racing, when she noticed a what looked like a cloud of dust slowly making it's way down the path she was on- towards her. This was followed by more echoing crashes and crunches, and a realization. _It's collapsing! I've go to get out of here!_ Turning to sprint down the corridor, the dust gathered behind her and steadily pushed down the small area, making it harder and harder for Sinon to breathe, despite pushing her avatar to its absolute maximum. Turning down a new corridor, she could only pray that there was light at the end of it. There wasn't any. _God damn it! I've got to keep going!_ As Sinon ran, she could feel her heart pumping and her lungs on the verge of collapse, even though her physical body wasn't under any exertion whatsoever. _Curse this game's realism!_ She would have chuckled, if not for her out-of-breath state. She continued to run, turning hallway after hallway, the cave-in pursuing her relentlessly. At last, when she was beginning to lose all sight of it, a ray of hope took form in a ray of light, shining at the tunnel's end. Strengthening what remained of her resolve, Sinon took off at breakneck pace, making a final push towards the exit. And just like that, the light enveloped her, and her lungs no longer felt confined, due to her slight claustrophobia. She then allowed her thoughts to calm down, and return to one topic. _Kirito! What if he got trapped in that collapse? Maybe he's dead…_ _No. I got out- that means he has to have! I just have to find him!_ Suddenly remembering she was in a virtual world, not the real one, she flicked her fingers to call forth the menu.

When nothing showed up, Sinon began to panic, thinking that the whole SAO incident was a dream, or a hallucination- that is, until she noticed her health bar, still in the upper left corner. A small icon next to it indicated some sort of debuff, whatever the hell that was. If she squinted, she could see a smaller rendition of the SAO menu, and a little cross-sign over it. _A debuff like that exists?!_ It appeared she couldn't use her menu for the time being… Which, by extension, also stopped her from accessing her friends list and map… which meant that she couldn't find Kirito. Trying to calm down, she took in her surroundings. It looked like they had never left floor 22, the forest around her was lush and green. But for all she knew, she could have been on floor 74. _I should check to see how long it lasts…_ Her eyes flicked up to look at the indicator. After five seconds, the debuff duration showed. _48 hours_. _THAT'S TWO DAYS! TWO DAYS?! WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO OUT HERE FOR TWO DAYS!?_ Sinon seethed. She looked back towards the entrance of the cave, which was now blockaded with a wall of rock. The entrance looked like it had been drilled in the side of the mountain that Sinon could now see. _Damn… so I can't go the way I came. Maybe Kirito's on the other side of that mountain?_ She stopped her thoughts from running any longer, and sorted her priorities. _I've got to get to the nearest town to see if they have a potion that can get rid of this infernal debuff… And then I'll have to find Kirito!_

* * *

Kirito stood slouched over, hands on his knees and panting heavily. He had emerged from the cave on a path that seemed well-trodden, though he couldn't tell if it was just by LC members or other players as well. "Phew." He sighed. "That was pretty harsh." Talking to himself, again.

"I'll say." A voice responded.

"Eh?!" He whipped up to stand straight, and he saw a figure about his height, wearing a white coat with red accents, which greatly contrasted against his black hair. He was about 50 meters from him on the path, and was walking towards him.

"It's you!" Kirito recognized him. "The crazy guy on the front lines!" That last part was blurted out without any particularly careful thought.

Luckily, however, the teenage boy that was now standing opposite of Kirito only chuckled. "I guess you could say that. My name is Eclipse. I take it you're this Kirito that I've heard so much about?"

Kirito scratched his head, feeling awkward at the recognition. "Yeah. In fact I think I saw you in the K.o.B office when Sinon and I came to ask for a leave of absence from the front lines."

"Huh. I thought I recognized that black coat from somewhere." Eclipse yawned. "Speaking of Sinon, where's she now? I thought she was always with you?"

Kirito's expression soured. "We were on floor 22, taking a walk- then the LC members ambushed us. There were so many of them… We had to surrender."

"I take it they knocked you out, took you captive, and tossed you in there?" The white-clad boy asked.

"Well, yeah. How'd you know?" Kirito asked, looking surprised.

"Ah. Heathcliff had been tracking you guys, just to make sure you and your girlfriend stay-"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Kirito interrupted.

"Whatever. Anyway, he wanted to make sure you guys stayed safe during your break, but when you guys dropped off the map, he got worried and sent me. I've been looking for a whole three days, you know."

"T-three days?!" Kirito stammered.

"Yup. Oh yeah, you're not on floor 22 anymore. This is floor 67. Ugh. So many of the floors in SAO look the same." He made almost an apologizing face. "I originally was looking on floor 22, but Heathcliff told me that it was probably Laughing Coffin that attacked you, 'cause you said something about them having a grudge against you. Anyway, I heard from a very reliable source that their base is up here. So I came here and I've been looking around, until I heard that loud sound, which ended up being you trying to escape, I'd wager. By the way, good job on that." He said.. His voice was masculine, deep, but not overly 'manly' or anything like that.

Kirito had also realized that this Eclipse definitely wasn't always that super serious persona that he portrayed on the battlefield. He could get used to hanging out with this guy.

"Oh yeah, and this area of the floor, this forest- specifically, gives you a debuff." In order to demonstrate, Eclipse flicked his fingers like he was opening his menu, but nothing appeared. "See? No menu. That, and it lasts for two days." He finished the last part quickly, hoping Kirito hadn't heard.

"TWO DAYS?!" Kirito cussed.

"Yeah, that was my first reaction too. 'Cazzo!', as the Italians would say." He made a weird gesture with his hand, that Kirito could only guess was related to Italian fanciness, or whatever. "But then I realized, it's not so bad. I remember the way to town." He coughed, and continued very quietly. "Probably…" He then returned to his normal voice, so Kirito could hear him again. "So we'll just get back there, wait for the debuff to wear off, 'cause there's no potion for this, and come back for your girlfriend. Sounds good?"

"She's not my- agh, whatever. Sounds like a plan." Kirito gave up on trying to convince him.

"Alrighty. Follow me." Eclipse turned, his coat swishing around his heels, and began to walk down the path. Kirito, with no other options, was at the mercy of this new stranger's navigational skills.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, guys. I caught a mild case of writer's block, and probably a cold to go with it. And once again I have bypassed my awesome proofreader, Crimiduck. I'm really sorry! I haven't posted in a while and I thought you guys would all like a chapter sooner rather than later. I promise I'll go through you for the next chapter I write- which leads me to the second topic. I've decided to begin work on my next story, the special operatives concept, despite my previous statements, because that's what I have motivation to write for now! I'm thinking the title will be something like _Don't Fear the Dark_ or something like that, if you have any ideas, let me know in the reviews! I'll definitely consider them. The first chapter of that story should be up shortly (hopefully), so get hyped! :D. Anyway, that's all! Constructive criticism is always welcome, as is just positive comments about the chapter and the story in general. I think that should be all! **EDIT:** Don't Fear the Darkness is here! Just go through my page and give it a read, will you? I promise it'll be better than this story started out.

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	12. Lost

**A/N:** I hope you guys all had a very merry Christmas, and sorry for the long wait! Without any further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Twelve - Lost

* * *

 _Eclipse._

"Dude, we're totally lost." Kirito sighed in exasperation, probably mostly directed towards me.

"Pfft. It's not like you know where we are." I snapped.

"Yeah, well I know it definitely doesn't take more than two hours to get to the nearest town. AND IT'S BEEN THREE GODDAMN HOURS!" His voice escalated to a quiet yell.

Sensing I was coming to the end of the line on comebacks I could use, I had to concede. "Okay, sheesh. We're lost. Happy?"

Kirito crossed his arms smugly. "Kinda. Except for the fact that now there's no way for us to get back to town so we can sleep. For a whole three days."

"Yeah, I realized that. Not like you would have done better without me, though." I chuckled. That was completely untrue.

"Uh, huh, right. Especially because I also have an unconditional _love_ for sketchy shortcuts." He rolled his eyes.

"I-uh…" He did have a point. "Well, any ideas?" We had been standing in the same clearing for about half an hour. Every time we tried to walk away from it, we would always end up back where we started, even if we never seemed to make a turn at all. It was obviously one of those trapped areas, but we needed to find a way out without the help of our maps or items, which was the difficult part. Luckily though, we hadn't run into any monsters, so I guess it wasn't all bad news.

"I think we should go back to the base of the mountain, there we can find the path again and probably get back to town." Kirito furrowed his brow in thought.

"That's a great idea. Except for the fact that we can't get out of here." I said.

"Oh. Right." Kirito looked crestfallen, and went back to furrowing his brow, thinking. "Maybe we could-" He started again, but only cut himself off by saying, "Never mind, that won't work."

"Hey Kirito, have you ever been stuck in one of these trap-room like things before?" I asked, a plan forming in my mind.

He looked up from where he was staring intently at the ground. "Huh? Yeah, actually. With Sinon, on floor 22. Why?"

"Do you remember how you got out of it?" I asked, with hope.

"Well…" Kirito rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "We kinda… Just… Teleported?"

"Oh." It was my turn to be crestfallen. "Then I guess we're out of luck, huh?" I looked at him helplessly.

"Wait… We're not!" He realized, his eyes widening.

"What?"

"Akihiko Kayaba wouldn't have designed something like this where you couldn't get out for three days… He might be slightly insane, but he's definitely not unfair. So… There must be a way to get out!" He said.

"You're right… We just have to figure it out." I said, once again crushing his hopes, though not to the same extent as before. "Actually…" Acting on a hunch, I knelt down and pawed the ground with my hand. What equally surprised both Kirito and I were two things. One, there wasn't an immediate reaction of a purple hexagon with the words 'Immortal Object'. Two, my fingers sunk into the dirt, and came away, leaving marks in the ground, digging up the dirt and grass.

"Aw, crap. Don't tell me we have to do what I think we have to do." Kirito said, as I also felt dread build up in my chest.

"Hey man, you got a shovel on you?" I asked, with a grim smile.

* * *

 _Kirito._

 _Creak!_ At the sound of a rock scratching metal, my eyes widened. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see that Eclipse had the same reaction. We both doubled our efforts, using our hands to paw dirt out of the widening hole, revealing a metal square, set into the ground.

"What's that, a vault?" Eclipse asked.

"I don't know- wait. Do you see that handle?" I replied.

"It's a door!" We said, simultaneously coming to the same conclusion.

"Alright! I might get to sleep in an actual bed tonight, after all." Eclipse pumped his fist, as he used the other arm to pull the door open. "Where do you think this goes?" He said, face returning to it's resting seriousness.

"I guess our only option is to find out." I said, and jumped into the blackness of the passage.

"Wait up!" Eclipse called after me, before I heard the sound of a coat fluttering, and the light from above dimmed considerably. "This seems like a pretty long fall," Eclipse said, as we shot down through the tunnel. "Is there, like, a ladder on the wall or anything?"

"I'm not sure, I couldn't see anything when I jumped in here!" I yelled, over the sound of air rushing past my ears, and the constant flapping of my black coat.

"Jeez, man. You should be more careful." He said. "I'm going to try and see if there's a ladder." The next thing I heard was a loud clang, like a limb hitting metal. "Ow! Fudging schiz!" Eclipse yelled. "There's definitely a ladder, but slowing yourself down with it definitely AIN'T gonna be pleasant." He said the last part in a mock African-American accent, which actually reminded me of Agil.

"Aw, this is gonna hurt real bad." I heard him say again, before another clang, and the sound of his coat flapping stopped entirely. "Hey Kirito!" He yelled, as I kept falling. "It's not so bad, once you get past the virtual feeling of your arms being ripped out of their sockets! I didn't even lose any HP, you should probably stop yourself before you get any faster."

Mentally bracing myself for 'the virtual feeling of your arms being ripped from their sockets', I outstretched my arms cautiously, feeling for a horizontal bar of metal, when suddenly, my fingers wrapped around something, and a tearing pain shot through my chest, shoulders and arms, before my coat stopped to rest around my calves again. Putting my feet on the ladder rungs, I heard the sound of feet on metal, as Eclipse descended to meet me.

"Well? What are you waiting for? We gotta go." He gestured for me to start climbing down.

* * *

 _Sinon._

Truth be told, I had no clue where I was. I had stumbled out of that hell-hole half blinded, with searing pain in my legs and lungs. No doubt from running for almost twenty minutes non-stop. Soon enough, I had realized that my only option was to try and find my way to the nearest town, to either try and find Kirito, or get my inventory working, at the very least. Now after following a path for about two hours, it was pretty clear that I was getting nowhere.

"GOD DAMN IT!" I yelled, as I kicked a nearby tree, hearing frantic chirps and the flutter of wings as the virtual birds were startled and fled. Yelling felt good. And I could do it all I wanted, since nobody was around. At this, my thoughts immediately wandered back to Kirito. Where could he be? I remembered the mountain I had seen when looking back, just after coming out of the cave. I sincerely hoped that he wasn't on the other side, though it was a possibility. As much as I hated it, I had to forge on forwards without him.

I turned to keep following the same path- if it was a path, it was sure to lead somewhere. As I walked, slowly but surely making progress, I allowed my mind to take me back to happier times.

" _What are you doing?" Kirito asked, a look of confusion written into his semi-feminine features._

" _Cutting the meat into pieces, duh. I can't just toss the whole thing in there and stew it up; that's not how it works. Besides, the game won't let me, anyway." I replied calmly._

" _O-oh, right. I guess that makes sense." Kirito said. After a short silence, he began again. "By the way, I didn't really get to thank you." He said, looking down._

" _Thank me for what?" I said absentmindedly, as I continued with the processes of cooking._

" _For saving me, really." Kirito said, seriously._

" _What?" My eyes widened, as I was forcefully removed from my cooking auto-trance._

" _Back then, with the Moonlit Black Cats… No, even before that. Those player killers you and Asuna ran into. I was a murderer, with nobody to blame but myself… But even then, you never turned your back on me. You never cared what I had done, and you always saw the light, the good side. I don't know if I would have survived without you; I do a lot of stupid things, especially when I'm not thinking straight- I can't repay you; I can only give you my thanks." He said, clenching his fists at his sides. "Sinon… Thank you, for saving my life."_

 _It was as if a jolt of electricity had shot through me. I had saved his life? I've saved lives? That's right… All those years ago, in that post office. That criminal had pointed his gun at my mother, and the poor clerk who worked behind the front desk. I had saved them, hadn't I? Then why… Why did I still have my fear of guns? Why did I have panic attacks, the face of the man whose life I took- why does it haunt me?_

" _I don't know what you must be thinking about," Kirito said, startling me. "But I know there's something in your past that's bothering you, too. You don't have to tell me, or anything. But know that I won't ever turn my back on you either." I just stood there, dull and shocked at his deduction. "Again, I can't repay you, but I'll try my best. I'll be there for you, whenever you need it, and I will never leave you behind."_

 _The emotions behind his words almost drove me to tears. The stoic blue-haired archer crying. What a sight. "Kirito…" I breathed. "I was the one who owed you. Not only have you saved my life, you saved Asuna's, and I couldn't just watch as you blamed yourself for everything, and took on all the guilt and remorse. There was no way I could have imagined the pain you were going through, but I did my best to help you through it." I said. I only ever had to deal with one person… But Kirito must have felt responsible for all of them, those two LC members, and everyone in the Moonlit Black Cats. How could he be so strong? "Just knowing that you've forgiven yourself- you've come to terms with it, that makes me happier than I've ever been." I said, extending my arms, and pulling Kirito into an embrace, which he returned graciously. A small_ ding! _behind me made me jump, as I was startled by the sound of the oven completing its task. Almost reluctantly, I unwrapped my arms from around Kirito, and found the oven mitts. Upon taking the pot out of the oven and taking the lid off, the most wonderful smell wafted into the room. Hehe, I could even see the drool leaking from the corner of Kirito's mouth._

" _Th-that looks really good, Sinon!" He said, amazed. I only smirked. That was Kirito- at one trace of good food, he dropped all conversation and seriousness. The way to his heart truly was his stoma- wait. Then what was I doing now? Was I only cooking for him because- no, we're just friends, and that's as far as it'll go. I thought, feeling mildly disappointed by my last statement._

" _Well?" I said, as I set the plates on the table- Kirito had been staring at me the whole time. Turning so he couldn't see the light blush I could feel on my face, I continued. "The food isn't going to eat itself."_

" _Right!" Came his voice, and he quickly sat down at the table, before clapping his hands together and saying, "Thanks for the food, Sinon!"_

Oh well. I couldn't dwell on the past forever. I hugged my arms close as I continued to walk on the path. It was getting cold, night was about to set in. The last rays of the sun shone brightly through an opening ahead… An opening!? I realized, as I ran as fast as I could. I picked up speed, until I burst through the exit to the forest. It was now obvious that the forest was in the foothills of the mountain, as I was standing atop a tall hill, which overlooked the rest of the floor. From my high-up point of view, I could see a town in the distance, which wasn't too far. "Yes!" A wide grin came over my face. I was one step closer to getting rid of this stupid debuff, and finding Kirito.

* * *

"I'd like a room, please." Sinon said to the innkeeper of 'The Sleeping Knights Inn'.

"Of course." He said, as he grabbed a key off of the shelf behind him. "Here you are."

Sinon absentmindedly made her way up the stairs, and into her allocated room. The town pharmacy had said that such a potion to remove this debuff did not exist. That had set her plans back two days. Two days without Kirito. It wasn't fundamentally too bad, but every time she needed something and was about to call for him as if he was in the next room over, she remembered that he wasn't there, and it felt as if a part of her was missing.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Eclipse had set up camp in a dark, open room, far underground. It had turned out that the tunnel they had climbed down was a mini-dungeon in its own right. Decently high-level monsters had greeted them at every turn, and the room they were currently in had been the room for a mini-boss, but with two high level front lines players, they had defeated it with relative ease.

Now, as both parties were readying to retire for the night, unbeknownst to them, Kirito and Sinon's thoughts aligned.

 _Kirito…_

 _Sinon…_

 _I'm lost without you._

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys! First of all, I hope you have a happy new year! 2016 is gonna be gr8. :) Secondly, for those of you who read the last chapter before I edited the author's note at the end, _Don't Fear the Dark_ 's first chapter has been posted on the site! After I finish the Christmas chapter for this story, (I know, I'm super late :( ) I'll get to work writing another chapter for that one. Anyway, the Christmas chapter is almost done, but I guess I should probably incorporate New Year's eve into that as well, and I hope it'll be up later today. Also, how do you guys feel about some possible OCxAsuna? Because she's pretty alone after Sinon stole her guy, hehe. Btw, sorry for Kirito's OOC-ness. Sinon as well, but I feel like she's a little better, because I'm not trying to have her interact with an OC. Finally, thanks again to my beta reader Crimiduck, he's doing a lot of good work behind the scenes, cleaning these chapters up. Well, that should be all. Thanks to you guys for supporting this story, as it's come a long way since that tiny first chapter!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	13. Christmas

**A/N:** A longer chapter! I'm pretty proud of myself for that, haha. Without any further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Thirteen - Christmas

* * *

Kirito stirred as his body woke from a deep, dreamless sleep. In the lightless world below, he had no way of knowing when it was day, or night. Just when he had had enough sleep. Kirito stretched and yawned, lifting himself from his position on the cold, hard ground. As he walked around to stretch his legs, Eclipse also began to stir, eventually sitting up and yawning. As he also got up, he stretched as well.

"Ugh. I'm gonna be sore for at least a week." He said, holding his shoulder, and swinging his arm. Upon noticing that Kirito wasn't moving, he added, "What's wrong, slept in a super awkward position or something?"

"No…" He said. "It's just I realized that I missed Christmas while I was stuck in that cave… I was looking forward to spending it with Sinon, too…" Kirito hung his head, dejectedly.

"Aw, man. That sucks. Look at it this way, she missed it too, so once you get back to town, you guys can spend it together!" Eclipse rubbed the back of his neck. He had hoped to spend Christmas with someone too, but he had been forced to go looking for Kirito and Sinon by the guild leader Heathcliff on Christmas day, and he couldn't disobey. He had done his best to mask his disappointment at the time, but Eclipse was the kind of person who didn't let issues bother him for long. "Anyway, if you want that to happen, we should get going, to see if we can make it out of here and let you spend your late Christmas with your girlfriend."

"Ugh." Kirito breathed a sigh, knowing it was futile to try to correct him. "Yeah, we should get moving." Kirito got up, following Eclipse into the tunnel opposite to the one they had emerged from. After walking for at least half an hour, the silence became unbearable, and Kirito finally spoke up. "Hey, Eclipse?" He said, getting the short-haired boy's attention.

"Mm hmm?" Came the lazy response.

"How'd you get that scar on your eye? I thought physical damage didn't stay on the player after it's healed?" He questioned.

"I didn't get it in the game. It's a scar from real life." He shrugged, without looking back. "I got it protecting somebody, but I'd rather not go into details." He said, as if it had been merely an inconvenience.

On this little expedition to find a town, Kirito had learned a lot about Eclipse, and vice versa. The two were quite similar when it came to habits and attitude, both in combat and out, but Eclipse's attitude was more varied than Kirito's. One moment, he'd be lazing around, the next he'd be serious and alert, even if he wasn't in a combat situation- something Kirito needed to allow his mind to enter a tranquil and, calm, calculating state. Eclipse and Kirito, when in combat, however, worked together like a well-oiled machine. They would both enter a tranquil state while in combat, allowing their minds to work in overdrive, which allowed them to coordinate their attacks nearly perfectly.

"By the way, you said Heathcliff was tracking us and got worried? That doesn't seem like him…" Kirito was reminded of Eclipse's earlier statement, though for what reason he didn't know.

"Haha, he didn't actually track you or get worried… It had just been a week and he decided it was about time to bring you guys back. When we couldn't find you, he kind of just sent me. I just made that whole little schpiel up to make him sound more caring, you know? Well since we're on the topic of learning about each other and our friends, I want to know about Sinon. What do you think of her? It's obvious she likes you." Eclipse said nonchalantly, still not turning to face Kirito.

"She… How the hell do you know that?" Kirito pressed.

"That time when you guys came to ask for a leave of absence, the way she hung onto your arm. I'm not even gonna mention how happy she looked when Heathcliff gave you two some time to yourselves, no raids involved." Kirito supposed Eclipse did have a point, but he still couldn't wrap his mind around Sinon being attracted to him. She had always made it clear they were just friends, but… "I don't blame you for not seeing it though, I mean, you are denser than a brick of gold." He continued. Being a science junkie himself, Kirito understood the joke, and scowled.

"Whatever." Kirito chuckled lightly, desperately wanting to get off the topic.

Eclipse, however, wouldn't let up. "You like her, don't you?" He said.

"Shut. Up." Kirito gritted his teeth.

"Okay, okay!" Eclipse laughed, then was silent again.

 _What is Sinon to me?_ Kirito thought to himself. _She's just a close friend, but would I mind if she was even closer? What are we on our way to? She is pretty cute… And how shy she is, but headstrong and cool in combat… I just can't help feeling attracted to her…_

* * *

Sinon was out walking the streets of the town she had stumbled upon, she had only recently found out that it was called Aldian. Walking around town, occasionally looking through a window, Sinon suddenly saw a sign that made her heart drop. "Christmas sale still on!" It read. "All items 50% off!"

She mentally kicked herself. She had missed possibly her last opportunity to spend Christmas in SAO with Kirito, now that they were close to clearing floor 74. She had the sudden urge to yell, or to cry, but she dismissed those feelings as hormones messing with her head. There was a good chance she might never see Kirito after SAO was cleared, and that was a thought that worried her greatly. It had never occurred to her what she would do once released from the virtual world back into the real one; she, along with all the other players, had grown accustomed to living in the virtual world, and progress on the floors had slowed exponentially. _No use in thinking about that now… I have to find out a way to get rid of this stupid debuff!_ As Sinon walked, she crossed one arm over her chest and used it as a support for the other arm, whose fingers rested on her chin. _Hmmm_ … _The NPC shopkeeper said that a potion like that made by breweries didn't exist… So is it possible a player could make a potion to nullify the debuff? My cooking skill is maxed out, and brewing is a subskill to cooking, so… I guess I could give it a try. It's better than sitting around for two days, doing nothing._ As soon as Sinon had made up her mind, she rushed to the shop, and upon buying some rudimentary potion ingredients, Sinon returned to her inn room- the small town lacked a teleport gate, so she couldn't return to her home, which is what would have been ideal. Opening a drawer in the corner of the kitchen, Sinon was greeted with a contraption that mildly resembled a small distillery. She removed the device from it's resting place, and carefully placed it on the table in the middle of the humble kitchen. _So this is the potion brewer, hmm? Looks like I'll have to get to work._

Mixing in various ingredients was not the best way to create such a specialized potion, but Sinon had no other option, seeing as how the guidebook Argo had created on such things was neatly stored in her inaccessible inventory. However, from skimming through the section, Sinon could remember the most important nuances of potion-crafting.

Potions must be created from at least three items/ingredients.

Different ingredients possess different effects, such as: Removing a poison, removing an elemental effect or removing a miscellaneous debuff.

Different ingredients may resolve different causes of debuff, such as: Inflicted by NPC, inflicted by player, or inflicted by environment.

Armed with ridiculously limited knowledge, Sinon sat down on a tall stool, and began to work. She meticulously tried ingredient after ingredient as the sun set into the mountains, and away from the sky.

* * *

 _K.O.B Headquarters, December 24, 2023._

'Twas Christmas night, and the regularly bleak walls of the Knights of the Blood Oath's headquarters in Grandzam were decorated to the brim. Streamers and holly, Mistletoe hung where easily seen. Unmistakably, this was a Christmas party. In fact, this was the biggest party Sword Art Online had seen in it's two years of life. In the midst of the partygoers, a frustrated girl with chestnut-coloured hair stood with her arms crossed, a look of contempt written into her facial features. _Where are they?!_ She thought to herself. _I made sure Kirito and Sinon knew to come here at this time… Why aren't they here!?_ The crease that came from sheer frustration was becoming more and more prominent on Asuna's forehead, when a voice cut through her discontent thoughts.

"Hmm? Why's Miss Subcommander looking so… Pissed?" A masculine voice asked jokingly.

Asuna scowled at the use of her guild title. "Ugh. What n- O-oh! Hi, Eclipse!" She turned to find that the joking voice had come from the guild's second-strongest fighter, only surpassed by Heathcliff himself.

"Hey, Asuna." He replied. "Enjoying the party?"

To say she didn't admire him would be a lie, but between fighting with Kirito on the front lines and fighting with him, her mind wasn't quite made up on who she'd rather fight with. Both were at least equally skilled, but she had known Kirito longer and had an easier time communicating with him mid-battle. But Eclipse covered her weaknesses and bolstered her strengths like nobody else; He was there before Asuna had even realized he was needed, blocking an attack that would have otherwise careened straight into her, and taking advantage of situations in which Asuna had knocked the boss off-balance. Now that she thought about it, Eclipse not only had that team dynamic with her, but everyone he fought with, he quickly adapted to their fighting style to complement it's strengths and cover it's weaknesses.

"Asuna?" He waved his hand in front of her face, upon noticing she had spaced out.

"Uwa! Sorry!" Asuna quickly waved her arms, as if waving away his attention. "Y-yeah, the party's great… Only, two CERTAIN people are missing." She said, feeling dejected.

"Kirito and that girl that's always with him…" Eclipse stopped to think for a while, then snapped his fingers. "That blue-haired archer, Sinon!"

"Yep, that's them." Asuna said, her attitude by no means improving.

"They did come to the headquarters to ask for a leave of absence the other day, god knows what they're doing." Eclipse shrugged, a gesture he loved using about as much as Kirito liked rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ew! You perv," Asuna grimaced, and punched him playfully.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Eclipse said, laughing awkwardly.

In reply, Asuna sighed. "The year's almost over… Jeez, when this death game first started, I never thought I'd start to enjoy living in it." She said, thinking over the past two years. "When it all first started, I didn't think about enjoying it here, or even living life like a person should. I only ever thought about clearing the game." She then smiled at Eclipse, which elicited a gulp from him. "But I guess it only takes two goofballs to change that." She said, obviously referring to Kirito and Eclipse, though the two themselves didn't really know each other.

"Hehe, yeah, time flew by these past two years, it's ridiculous. I can remember that day in the main plaza like it was yesterday. Man, how that big cloaked guy came out of the sky… I was so freaked out."

"That was pretty scary." Asuna said, her face subconsciously formed into a pout. The two reminisced about times past. That is, until Eclipse noticed a figure not too far behind Asuna frantically gesturing to him.

Focusing on him instead of Asuna, Eclipse saw Lind, the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance, frantically pointing upwards, and thrusting his arm in the same direction. _Look up._ As discretely as possible, Eclipse tilted his head back, and looked up to the ceiling, where a sprig of some sort of plant hung from the roof, tied with a red bow. _Oh, no._ He thought, as he looked more closely to examine it. Realizing his worst fears, what he saw was this: Green leaves, and… White berries…

"Eclipse? What are you looking a- oh…" Came Asuna's voice, getting smaller, as her eyes followed Eclipse's- to where the mistletoe was hanging on the ceiling, right above their heads.

"Let's just pretend we were never standing there." Eclipse said quickly, before turning to move away.

"Y-yeah…" Asuna said as she turned to follow him, until they were interrupted by a loud voice, and upon a swivel of their heads, they saw that the voice had emanated from Lind.

"Looks like Eclipse and Asuna are in a pinch, huh?" He said, attracting the attention of over one hundred pairs of eyes. Numerous whistles echoed through the now almost-silent room, each coming from people of varying levels of intoxication.

"Guys, guys…" Eclipse said, in a futile effort to defuse the situation. "Let's not make anyone do anything they don't want to do…"

"Nope." Lind interrupted him, gleefully. "You know what mistletoe means."

"Yeah… I do." Eclipse said. "You aren't gonna make us, are you?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

Lind only remained silent, while the furious blush on Asuna's cheeks only grew by the second, spreading to the rest of her face. Eclipse looked around frantically to try and find Heathcliff, but instead of the solace he was looking for, instead he was greeted with a half apologetic, half amused face, indicating he would have no help.

"Guys…?" Asuna's blush faded, and her signature frustration-crease replaced it, along with the twitching of the corner of her mouth. It didn't take a genius to interpret the gesture, as Lind quickly backed off, laughing the situation off as a joke.

"I was just kidding! You guys aren't even dating or anything, haha…" He said, quickly taking a few steps backwards. "We should all go back to what we were doing before."

Despite the few disappointed sighs from the crowd, everybody wen't back to normal, chatting amongst themselves. Eclipse let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Jeez. I can't believe you got us out of that."

"Whew." Asuna sighed. "That was almost really awkward."

"That _was_ really awkward." Eclipse grumbled. "Anyway… What are you doing for Christmas day tomorrow?"

"Nothing, really." Asuna said. "Kirito and Sinon aren't here, so I don't have anyone to spend it with."

"Me neither…" Eclipse said, ignoring the fact that he had neglected to make any plans regardless. "Would you want to…" He gulped. "Would you mind if I dropped by some time tomorrow?"

"Y-yeah! No problem." Asuna quickly replied, already forming plans in her mind- what to cook, how to entertain.

However, this would never happen, as the very next day, Eclipse was called by Heathcliff to go looking for Kirito and Sinon. Begrudgingly sending an cancellation notice with an apology to Asuna, he had set out for floor 22, to begin his wild search.

* * *

 _Sleeping Knights Inn, Present Day: December 30th, 2024._

Sinon's current thoughts bordered on flat-out depressed. After creating over 10 new potions that had never been heard of before as well as over 50 known potions, she was beginning to lose hope. The last combination that made sense she was trying right now was still brewing. Exhausted, she rested her head on the arms she had crossed on the table. She had almost drifted off to sleep when she heard the small ding, indicating that her concoction was ready. Looking up to read the potion's name-which hung over the potion brewer, she read: "Menu restoration potion." As the words fully sunk in, Sinon jumped up, hitting her knee on the table's edge.

"Ow.." She said to herself, while rubbing her knee. Recovering, Sinon grabbed the bottle connected to the series of tubes, and lifted it to her lips, taking desperate gulps. Upon looking up at the status indicator, it blinked once, twice- then flickered out completely. _Success!_ She thought gleefully. Flicking her fingers down in front of her, she was greeted with a welcoming chime and the menu opening before her eyes. Sinon smiled smugly. She had done it. Selecting the friends tab, Sinon scrolled down to where Kirito's name rested. Looking at the location, what she saw puzzled her to no end.

[Kirito] - Aldian.

Meanwhile, Eclipse and Kirito had been walking the tunnels underground all day, not really knowing where they were or where they were going. The only thing they had had to keep themselves entertained were the monsters waiting around corners in the mini-dungeon. That was, until they came to a ladder bolted to the wall, and what looked like a wooden hatch, far above.

"More ladders, eh?" Kirito sighed, and began to climb.

"I personally love ladders." Eclipse joked. If he knew Kirito better, he probably would have been able to guess that Kirito had just rolled his eyes. As they climbed, the light filtering through the seams between the wood in the trapdoor above began to give them hope, as it looked like flickering torchlight. Reaching the top, Kirito braced his hand against the door and pushed. With a creak that told of a lack of maintenance, the wooden panel slowly raised from the ground. Upon reaching 90 degrees, it listed to the opposite side Kirito was pushing on it from, and slammed against the ground. Jumping out, Kirito found himself in a populated tavern, the players and NPCs alike just staring at him. Eclipse soon followed, and both came to an unspoken agreement to quickly but gracefully flee the installation. Upon exiting the building, the two were met with a quaint town. Though not bland, it could not, however, be described as vibrant.

"I'm surprised we got to a town." Kirito muttered, under his breath so Eclipse couldn't hear.

"Have faith, Kirito." Eclipse chuckled, having heard his recently acquired friend's comment.

"It was totally luck."

"Yeah, whatever. Next step- find a place to stay. Speaking of which, you're going to have to get your own room." The white-clad boy said, setting off down the candle-lit street in a random direction, hoping to find an inn. As the two ventured throughout the streets, they stumbled upon a building with a sign out front that looked promising.

"The Sleeping Knights Inn, huh?" Kirito looked thankful that they had had the luck to find a suitable place to stay. He put his hand on the door handle, but before he pushed to open it, he felt a jerk on his arm, and the door was opened from the other side. He was about to mutter a word of 'thank you', when his eyes met surprisingly familiar azure ones.

"K-Kirito!?" A surprised Sinon shrieked. She was just on her way to find him.

"Sinon!" He began to say, before he was pulled into a warm hug, feeling her nimble arms squeeze around him, holding him tight. "It's been a while." He said after the initial shock wore off, as he likewise wrapped his arms around her slender frame. "We need to stop meeting like this." Kirito smirked.

She only sighed and buried her head deeper into the crook of his neck. "Only you could make me worry so much, you know that?" Sinon sighed yet again. She could stay like this forever, locked in Kirito's arms. That was, until she heard a subtle cough from behind Kirito.

"Ahem…" Eclipse stood awkwardly, looking anywhere but the two standing in front of him.

Sinon quickly backed away, unwrapping her arms from around the black swordsman. "Eclipse?! What are you doing here?"

"Long story." He waved the question off. "I'm sure Kirito will tell you later."

"I will?" Kirito questioned, confused. "You aren't putting all that responsibility on my shoulders!"

"It's not like I live with her!" Eclipse retorted.

Upon seeing the two argue about a topic so insignificant, Sinon stifled a giggle. "Eclipse? Thanks for getting this idiot back to me." She smiled sweetly, before grabbing Kirito by the ear. "Kirito? You'll tell me everything, right?"

"Ow! Hey!" Kirito had to bend over to keep from getting his ear ripped off.

"N-no problem, miss!" Eclipse said with mock politeness, before giving Kirito an apologetic glance, as he was dragged inside the inn.

Kirito was pulled by the ear up a flight of stairs, all while voicing his displeasure. "Ow! Sinon, let go!" He protested, as she didn't let up.

"Nope. You idiot, you had me worried sick!" She said, gripping his ear tighter, as they reached the top of the stairs. As they traversed the length of the hall, Sinon pulled him into the room at the end, before finally letting him go. Equally surprising Kirito and herself, she again pulled Kirito close, wrapping her arms around him.

"S-Sinon?" He seemed surprised, not used to such actions, especially from Sinon.

"I was so worried you died in that collapse… I didn't know what I would do without you. I'd honestly probably just die in some insane dungeon." She said, wanting to hold him there forever, so he'd never be out of her sight again.

"Hey, Sinon?" Kirito said, his voice muffled by Sinon's hair. "I know this is really late, but I have a Christmas present for you."

Sinon pulled back, surprised at his pro-activeness. "Really?" She said, not expecting anything substantial.

"I got it during the floor 50 boss fight- you know, the one you couldn't go to?" He said.

"Yeah…? That was a while ago, though." She said, waiting.

"Mm hmm. I was saving it for Christmas. Also, I would give it to you, but I can't open my inventory right now." He said.

"Oh! I actually made a potion that gets rid of the debuff." She said, moving to the kitchen from her spot just inside the doorframe, as Kirito sat on the couch that was pushed against the far wall.

"Here." She said, returning with a purple-coloured glass bottle with a thin neck.

Kirito drank down the potion, before swiping his fingers down in midair, opening his menu. "Man. You don't realize how much you miss something until it's gone, huh?"

"Yeah…" Sinon said, sitting down next to him, and resting her head on his shoulder.

Kirito was subtly surprised by this, but continued fiddling with his inventory. He selected something, and the inventory disappeared. He held out his arms, and a gleaming black recurve bow appeared in his arms. Shocked, Sinon sat up. "Here. I want you to have it." He said, solemnly. "It's name is Asteria. If I remember correctly, Asteria was the titan goddess of the stars, mother to Hecate."

"It's beautiful…" Sinon breathed. "Thank you, Kirito!" She smiled. "Whenever I use it, I'll think of you."

Kirito smiled in return. "I hope it serves you well!"

"Speaking of Christmas presents… We missed Christmas!" Sinon remembered.

"Yeah, I heard that the Knights of the Blood had a huge party…" Kirito said, a wistful look in his eyes.

"Hey, Kirito. Since we missed Christmas, we can host our own Christmas party!" Said Sinon excitedly.

"We can't really have a party with only two people…" Kirito said.

"Well… Asuna said that she wanted to spend Christmas with Eclipse in a PM she sent me during our absence, but then she said he had to go do something? Anyway, they missed Christmas as well, so… We could invite them?"

"Eh." Kirito shrugged. "Why not?"

"So a house party it is, huh?" Sinon sighed. "Although, I'm not really good with decoration… But Asuna probably is. We should get her to help, huh?"

"Yeah, I suck with decorations, too." Kirito muttered. "Sure, we can ask Asuna for some help. Anyway, let's keep planning later. I'm pretty tired after that whole thing, Eclipse and I were walking around in this underground dungeon for hours. I'm exhausted."

"Well, I guess we could stay here for the night. You can sleep… Uh…" She trailed off, upon realizing that the room had a single bed- she hadn't expected to be sharing it. A sense of deja vu reminded her of the first time she had been in a situation like this, seeking comfort from the only one she trusted with her life.

"I can sleep on the couch." Kirito chuckled. "Why does this remind me of that one time, almost two years ago?" He continued, literally voicing Sinon's thoughts.

Sinon bit her lip, her unknown desires getting the best of her. "Well, um…" She held her arms to her chest, shyly. "I wouldn't mind if you…" A light blush began to dust her cheeks.

"Uhm, Sinon?" Kirito said restlessly, fearing yet excited for what might come next.

"I wouldn't mind if you stayed with me?" Sinon almost kicked herself. _Oh, why did I say that? Kirito will think I'm like_ that… _Ugh._

Kirito backed into the couch, suddenly feeling constricted, mostly from excitement, but some fear still resided. He knew Sinon wasn't like _that…_ "Uhm… Sure." Kirito said, still sounding unsure of himself.

Sinon awkwardly equipped her oversize pyjamas. _Will he find these weird or unattractive? Clothes shopping in SAO was something I didn't really think about… Does he like different clothing? No, Kirito isn't like that._ She thought, as she gingerly lifted the covers, and gracefully slid under them. Looking over, she saw that Kirito had changed into his simple t-shirt and shorts, and was moving to join her on the double bed. As he laid down, he came to rest with his back facing her. Feeling slightly disappointed, Sinon also turned over, relishing the fact that this was the first time they had slept in one bed together, that Kirito knew about and accepted. However, there wasn't quite enough space on the bed, and both Kirito and Sinon were sleeping on opposite edges of the mattress.

"Kirito?" Sinon's voice pierced through the darkness.

"Yeah?" Kirito replied.

"There isn't a lot of space… so…" He had turned over to face her, now. Slowly, Sinon edged towards him, until her back was to his chest. Suddenly, she felt his hand creep around her waist, pulling her close to him. Luckily, he couldn't see the furious blush on her face, but he could probably feel the extra warmth now radiating off of her body. He sighed contentedly, and the two were silent, marvelling in the existence and presence of the other, all while drifting into the dark oblivion known as sleep.

* * *

 _Kirito and Sinon's home, Floor 61: Selmburg, January 1st, 2025._

"Asuna, are you almost done with decorations?" Sinon called, as she prepared food from within the kitchen. The two prepared for the party alone; Kirito and Eclipse had managed to invite Klein and the rest of Fuurinkazan- they didn't care it was late, as long it was another party. Right now, they were probably sitting in some bar, catching up on the past year and a half's adventures.

"Yep!" Asuna said, doing a final scroll through the end-of-year festive decorations menu. She was finally finished, but felt as if she was missing something. She flicked her finger to scroll again and again, until she came to a stop on one item, her face taking on an almost evil grin. _Mistletoe._

* * *

"Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Cheers!" Kirito said charismatically, holding his goblet high.

"Cheers!" Everybody returned, and all took swigs of their drinks. For Klein and the members of Fuurinkazan, various alcoholic drinks. For the rest of the occupants- various juices and soft drinks. Luckily, as intoxicated teenagers during a party was a recipe for disaster. As everybody moved to mingle, Kirito and Sinon automatically came together. Though the two had woken up from a dreamless night's sleep in each other's arms, the natural awkwardness that plagued teenagers still remained.

"Asuna did a great job decorating the place." Kirito gestured appreciatively. "How long did it take you guys to get the place ready?"

"Well…" Sinon thought aloud, a thoughtful look on her face. "Three or four hours, give or take?"

"Wow. Speaking of preparation," Kirito said, grabbing a fried red-bean-curd bun and casually taking a bite out of it, "The food is really top notch. I suppose we have Sinon to thank for that, though." He gave her a light pat on the head, causing a light blush to dust her cheeks.

"Oh-ho-ho!" A voice cut through their moment. The voice belonged to a red-haired samurai, a silken bandana tied around his forehead. "Looks like you two have gotten yourselves in a pinch, huh?" He smirked.

"What are you talking about, Klein?" Kirito said, exasperated.

With a sly grin on his face, Klein merely pointed his finger up towards the ceiling.

Kirito glanced upwards, as did Sinon. Upon seeing a sprig of mistletoe, Kirito smacked himself in the face. _How could I let this happen to me?_ He proceeded to not met Sinon's eyes, with her doing the same to him.

"Whatever," Klein said, straightening up to leave. "I'll let you two sort it out by yourselves. Don't get too crazy!" He remarked gleefully, before turning and walking away, joining his guildmates.

"Well, um…" Kirito started.

Sinon suddenly felt some strange spur of motivation. _You might not get another chance!_ She thought to herself. She was already feeling her cheeks warm up when she cupped Kirito's face in her hands.

"Sinon?" He asked, not surprised or afraid, just slightly confused.

"Kirito… I never knew how to tell you this. I… I think I…" She began to say, before Kirito suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Heat like a blazing furnace that resonated in her chest began to reach outwards, running through her. Her trembling fingers found their way around Kirito's neck, and only pulled him into the kiss, her feverish desires taking hold of her and not letting her go. The only thing she was aware of the soft firmness to his lips, and his hands on her hips, keeping her close. They kissed again, not bothering to breathe. Sinon's face felt as if it had been ignited; she could feel the blush in her ears and her cheeks, like a fire threatening to consume her. If it weren't for her lungs gasping for air, she might have stayed like that forever, but the two had to pull away for a breath.

"Sinon, I had no clue what to say to you about this until now…" Kirito began, breathless. "But now I know. I- I love you, Sinon. You've always been there for me, and I want to always be there for you. Can we stay together forever?"

At this, Sinon could feel her heart threatening to beat out of her chest, from happiness or nervousness, she couldn't tell. "Kirito… I…" She wanted to say it, so badly. But for some reason, her tongue tied, and she couldn't get it out. "I-" She tried again, but was only rewarded with silence for her efforts. "Yeah." She said instead, a wide smile making it's way across her face. "Let's stay together forever." Kirito smiled in return.

It was only then they realized the deafening silence in the room. Terrified, the two looked around, to see multiple pairs of eyes looking their way, before quickly turning away. Asuna had looked flustered to be watching, while Eclipse's neutral face remained present- just the slightest glint in his eyes told Kirito that he was proud. Klein just blinked, while the rest of Fuurinkazan began to whisper.

"Oh, god." Kirito muttered to Sinon, who had, at this point, become as red as a tomato.

The silence was broken when Eclipse chuckled. "Merry late Christmas, guys." He said, raising his goblet for another toast. "And a happy New Year!"

* * *

 **A/N:** So yes, this chapter puts us squarely into the world of alternate universes. Yep, in canon, SAO ended on November 17th, I think. But it wouldn't be fanfiction without OOC-ness and non-canon. So, yep. Next thing, sorry this chapter is late. Yes, Christmas was a week ago, and New Years a full business week, but I just didn't have any good ideas. Also, this hasn't passed through my proofreader yet, but I'll just replace the chapter with his updated version as soon as he emails it back to me. Also, I PROMISE. The next chapter of _Don't Fear the Dark_ will be up soon, I'm just not sure what to do with it. Anways, like always, be sure to drop a review if you enjoyed it or have criticism, it always helps! That should be all.

Until next time, and a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,

-TheSilentSwordsman.


	14. Morning Dew

**A/N:** Wow, it's been a while. This one's kinda slow- forgive me. I thought I'd drop Yui into the mix before having Heathcliff get rekt. Anyway, read on!

* * *

Fourteen - Morning Dew

* * *

The light patter of rain on shingles in late January was not an uncommon sound in Selmburg. However, while it usually served to depress, this time it felt quite tranquil- soporific, even. It seemed Kayaba was in a peaceful mood, as even the monsters of the various floors roamed their dungeons quietly and seemed almost reluctant to enter battle.

Kirito yawned, as he woke from a deep sleep. Upon taking a glance at the wall-mounted clock, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see he had slept until ten o'clock. The feeling of another body held close to his was something he would have to get used to. Sinon was there next to him, a peaceful look on her face, her mouth slightly open. He could just hear her light breaths over the ticking of the clock and the splashing of rain outside.

Despite doing his best not to disturb her, Sinon began to stir. She stretched with a small yawn he found insanely cute, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Morning, sleepy-head." Kirito greeted softly.

"Hm? What time is it?" The sleepiness laced with her voice could still be heard, though it was gradually receding.

"Ten-ten." Kirito said slowly, as if not to startle her.

Suddenly, Sinon jumped up and out of the bed, her pyjamas pooling around her ankles and the sleeves of the button-up shirt completely covering her hands. "TEN!? WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE AT 9!"

"Relax." Kirito chuckled. "It's not like anybody's waiting for us. And we're not taking the trip walking the whole way. I think we deserve to sleep in after clearing the first few segments of the floor 75 dungeon.

"Uh-huh. Get your lazy ass out of bed." Sinon turned to change, as Kirito got up himself. While Kirito's attire consisted of a black shirt, black pants and black shoes, Sinon changed it up, with a mint-green sweater of which the collar was so wide one side dropped off of her shoulder. The sleeves extended just past her palms. With this accompanied a pair of denim short shorts.

"You think after all this time you'd wear something other than black, hey?" Sinon put her hands on her hips from across the bed.

"So? I like black. I look good in black." Kirito resisted the urge to glance in the mirror placed at the far end of the room.

At this point, Sinon just stared at him- probably contemplating on what to make him wear. Before she could get anywhere with her thoughts, though, Kirito traversed around the bed and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go!" He said, as he dragged her out of the room into the hall, then out of the hall to the doorway, where he grabbed an umbrella- which was also black. Sinon internally sighed at this, while Kirito opened the door to usher them both outside. The smell of ozone in the air along with the light breeze and the pitter-patter of the rain on the cobblestone streets drew a collective sigh from the two. They had both been the people that thought more clearly on a rainy day. She held onto his arm as he held the umbrella, and they slowly walked towards the teleport gate.

In light of their relationship, Heathcliff had allowed the two a week of leave, not to mention cautioning them to not get lost again. The same could be heard from Eclipse and Asuna- it's not that getting lost was extremely dangerous, it's just that none of them wanted to be put through the hassle. Being gamers, after all, their first instincts were laziness in anything not combat-related.

Then, one voice could be heard over the rain. "Teleport, Coral!"

* * *

A light tap of his thumb on the handle, and Kirito's umbrella closed and neatly stored itself in his inventory. He had no use for it now that he and Sinon had come to the twenty-second floor once again.

"You know, they say that there's a really nice log cabin in the forest on this floor." Kirito grinned.

"We already have one of the nicest player homes in all the hundred floors… Don't be so greedy." Sinon chastised. "Plus, you can only own one player home."

"Well then, we'll just have to see if it's worth selling our house in Selmburg for." Kirito chuckled.

Sinon only sighed, as the two continued down the boardwalk. "Hey Kirito. Do you think you could carry me on your shoulders?"

"What?"

"I mean, with your strength stat, it shouldn't be too hard, hmm?" She continued- an innocent look written over her features.

"Well…"

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

Grumbling, Kirito slowly knelt down, feeling the sun on his back. "Only for you…"

"And don't turn, or I'll slap you!" Sinon's sly voice came from behind him.

"I'm honestly not sure that matters anymore." Kirito muttered, as one shoulder was weighted, followed by the other. With a grunt, he stood up, and he heard a shriek of delight from above.

"Kirito…?" Sinon asked, awestruck.

"Yeah?"

"I think we'll need to sell our house in Selmburg."

"I told you." Kirito smiled mischievously, an idea forming. Digging his toes into the ground, he took off at a sprint.

"KIRITOOO!" A shrill echo reverberated off of the mountainsides. The fluttering wings of disturbed birds. All of this could be heard if one were to listen closely while standing on the teleport gate.

The hammering footfall of a teenage boy running on the weathered boardwalk slowed, as Kirito and Sinon neared the log cabin built in the woods. Surrounded by trees, he could vaguely see that it had a view of the sparkling lake.

"It looks even better up-close…" Sinon breathed.

"There was a quest with a miniboss I started here… And now it's a player home. Huh." Kirito contemplated, Sinon still sat on his shoulders.

"And…?" She questioned.

"I soloed it." Kirito tried to shrug nonchalantly (which was slightly harder with a teenage girl on his shoulders.)

"Way to show off…" Sinon huffed, and nimbly hopped off of him, landing behind. "Hmm… Does that mean we can just buy it?"

"Well, yeah, I guess…" Kirito scratched his head. "Do you want to?"

"Of course I want to, stupid!" Sinon said, though in a joking tone.

"Alright, then." Kirito confidently stepped forward on the path leading up to the house, and placed his hand on the purchase panel which arose in front of him.

[Would you like to sell: Floor 61 - Player Home 21 and buy : Floor 22 - Log House? Your furniture and items will automatically be transferred.]

Practically jamming the blue button with his thumb, a blue barrier appeared around the proximity of the house, and steadily disintegrated. Stepping forward to the heavy oaken door, Kirito effortlessly pushed it aside. He immediately sighed appreciatively. Streams of golden sunlight filtered through the large windows, the smell of refined wood comforting and welcoming. All of the furniture they had bought for their home in Selmburg had come with them, and now rested in various places in the abode.

The two stepped inside and looked around, speechless. The door shutting by itself behind them wasn't even enough to jolt them out of their trances. Both Kirito and Sinon walked a different way to check the various rooms. Upon walking into the bedroom, Kirito's eyes widened, and he could feel his jaw drop. Two large, soft looking queenside beds- but that wasn't what he focused on. Just beyond the bed, the whole far wall was a window, save for the glass door which led to a balcony- the house was built on a slope- overlooking the lake.

As Sinon padded in to join him, she had the same reaction. "Wow."

With nothing else to do in the evening, the couple had decided to leave the house for a sunset walk. The lake glistened and reflected a thousand shades of red, pink and orange. The birds chirping in the trees paired with the steady, slow breeze made living on the floor entirely worth their 5 million cor.

Walking hand in hand along the boardwalk, the two had been quite silent, listening to the sounds, marvelling at the sights. "You know, they say there's a ghost around this area of the forest." Kirito whispered, his voice taking on a mock gravelly tone.

"Pff. Don't try to scare me." Sinon squeezed his hand.

"No, really. They say there was a woodcutter here chopping down trees. But he lost track of time, and it got dark."

"I really don't see where you're going with this." Sinon drawled.

"While he was trying to find his way back, he saw a glowing white figure behind one of the trees." Kirito grinned maniacally.

"No way…"

"It's said that the ghost was a little girl, about eleven. And she only comes out after sunset."

Suddenly, Sinon was quite aware that it had become dark. "W-what happened next?"

"Nobody knows. He was never heard from again." Kirito then broke out of his mock scary-voice and returned to his normal one. "But I'm sure it's just a story. Come on, let's go back."

"U-uhm… Kirito?" Sinon tugged on his sleeve.

"Yeah?" He said, still looking forwards.

"What's… What's that?" Her voice was shaking.

"What's what? Come on, let's go."

"Kirito, LOOK!" She said, tugging again. Turning his head, a glowing white figure could be seen about 20 meters from the boardwalk, emerging from behind a tree.

"What the…" Kirito bit his tongue, to prevent from making too much noise. Maybe it was a high-level monster? Sinon was behind him now, almost as if using him as a kind of human shield. Kirito didn't mind, though, and kept intently watching the figure- which he could now see was a little girl, her white dress billowing around her ankles.

Unexpectedly, the girl swooned and fell, hitting the ground with a light thump.

"That's no ghost…" Kirito muttered, taking off into the forest towards the girl.

"K-Kirito!" Sinon cried out, her wall of safety having run towards the source of danger. "Oh, for Christ's sake." Running after him, as she rounded a bush, she could already see Kirito cradling the figure of the little girl. As she got closer, it was evident that the girl was unconscious, a peaceful look on her little face.

"Do you think she's a monster?" Sinon asked, tentatively.

"No, she doesn't have a cursor. Or a health bar, for that matter." Kirito pointed just above the little girl's head, where a floating green cursor should have appeared.

"Then… What is she?" Sinon questioned, no longer afraid of whoever the little girl was.

"Um, maybe she's a player? She could be the victim of a glitch of some sort." Kirito scratched his head.

"That's terrible…"

"Yeah, it is. Come on, let's take her back." Kirito began to loop her arm around his neck, picking her up in a bridal carry.

"W-wait… What?" Said Sinon, albeit apprehensively.

"Come on. It'll be fine." He stood up, and began to walk to the path, leaving a slightly annoyed Sinon to follow after.

 _Oh well, he's always been like that._ A small smile made it's way across her face.

* * *

"Kirito! She's awake!" A quiet yell, prompting Kirito to stumble into the room. Slowly, he sat down on the bed they had placed the little girl on. She was now awake, her wide eyes scanning everything in the room.

"What's your name?" He asked.

This lead to the little girl moving her mouth as if wanting to say something, but she closed it again. Her face scrunched into one of intense thought, before she opened her mouth to speak again.

"Y-yui."

Kirito laughed. "I'm Kirito, and this is Sinon." He gestured to his blue-haired companion.

"Ki-to? Si-non?" Yui tried to repeat.

"Well, at least she didn't butcher your name." Kirito said, jokingly. He glanced at Sinon, earning a stuck-out tongue.

"Kirito. Ki-ri-to." He said slowly, hoping the newcomer would understand.

"Ki-to?" She repeated again, seemingly unable to pronounce his whole name.

Kirito chuckled. "Maybe it's a little hard right now. That's okay. What were you doing out there all alone?"

Yui scrunched her face up into the thinking expression once again, before shaking her head. "Nothing. I don't… Remember… Anything."

Sinon gasped. "That's terrible!"

"Papa." She seemingly ignored Sinon, and pointed to Kirito. "Sinon is… Mama?" Yui looked slightly nervous, as if knowing that the two could reject the idea, but Kirito only nodded, with Sinon opening her mouth to speak.

"Yeah, that's right!" She held her arms out for a hug, which was gratefully accepted by Yui.

"She's gotta have family in the game…" Kirito said, quietly- only so Sinon could hear, as Yui's hearing was probably muffled by Sinon's sweater.

"She'll remember eventually… It's not like we're doing something bad."

Content with Sinon's answer, Kirito watched as she turned around to continue hugging the small girl. _It looks like we've created a little family, hmm?_

* * *

 **A/N:** Damn... That chapter was like, entirely dialogue. I'msorrydon'thurtme. XD Anyway, once again I have to thank my proofreader Crimiduck, and good friend Reaper2908 for their continuing support on this story!

Speaking of proofreading, I had one question I wanted to bring to all readers- should I just skip over Yui? I don't know if I'll have the heart to make it a good retelling (do those even exist?) and at this point, the 2-episode arc that focuses on Yui can only be the exact same as canon, because I have no ideas for an alternate scenario. But if I must go into detail with it, I will. And honestly, that's about it. My motivation was sort of dead for the first half of the month, but now that it's back, (kinda- I just got R6 Siege and Titanfall (PM me if you want to play)) The next chapter for DFD should be on the way! (Or not, depending on how much math screws me over this semester.) Also- in my brief absence, it has occurred to me that this story has gathered over 10,000 views. Holy shizzle. Thanks, guys! Remember to review, cuz it's always nice when I get those reviews telling me what I could do better! That should be all for now!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	15. Runaway

**A/N:** Boom! I'm back, baby! Finally cleared up that writer's block and am ready to go again!

* * *

Fifteen - Runaway

* * *

"And that's why we were wondering if anybody had reported a lost child." Sinon finished.

"Well, nothing has come up." Sasha fixed her face into a thinking expression. "But if anything happens, I'll let you guys know."

Kirito sighed. "Alright. Thanks."

 _Knock, knock!_ The door to the building that housed many children who'd been stranded here opened, revealing a woman with silver hair. "My name is Yulier. I-"

"I know who you are." Kirito said. "You're with the army, right? Isn't that prick Kibaou with you guys?" Sinon found it amazing how his attitude could change so quickly from kind and caring to serious and passive-aggressive.

"In fact, I'm here to speak with you about Kibaou." She walked towards them and sat down in the vacant chair across from Yui, who was sitting in Sinon's lap. "Kibaou had been rising in rank and power in the guild since he was invited- and has always been misusing his power. It got to the point where we should have exiled him… But…"

"But what?" Sinon questioned.

"Kibaou lured our guild leader, Thinker, into a trap." The couple noticed that the silver-haired woman's eyes were beginning to glisten, tears forming at their corners. "And deserted him. Thinker is stuck deep in a high-level dungeon. That was three days ago."

"Three days!?" Kirito almost spat out the tea he was drinking.

"That's why I'm asking you for help. I've heard that you two are the most skilled players around… And I didn't want to have to create a whole raid party to find him, because this is my fault as his aid." She barely managed to keep the tears from spilling over and slipping down her cheeks.

A small voice instantaneously piped up. "I want to go, too!" Yui chirped.

"It's too dangerous..." Kirito whispered to Sinon.

As if reacting directly to Kirito's comment, she spoke in a soft voice. "Sorry, Yui. You can't come with us."

Yui pouted, earning a light pat on the head from Kirito.

"Also, you'll have some help…" Yulier continued, just as the door opened again to a very familiar-looking girl with auburn hair.

"Asuna!" Sinon cried, almost getting up before remembering Yui, who was still in her lap.

"Long time no see, guys." She grinned, and walked forward to kneel in front of Yui. "Who's this?"

Sinon opened her mouth to speak, but Yui interrupted. "My name is Yui! What's yours?"

Asuna giggled, before saying, "Asuna."

"Miss Asuna," She stared at her with a sort of cute determination. "Don't let my daddy do anything dumb, okay?"

"No problem!" She smiled, while Kirito and Sinon both took turns bidding goodbye to Yui, turning to step out into the Town of Beginnings, on the first floor of Aincrad.

Feeling awkward walking beside the two, Asuna fell in step behind them, but just within earshot.

"What should we do?" Kirito muttered, his quiet voice almost drowned out by the day-to-day rabble of the various NPCs and players alike. "With Yui, I mean."

"Didn't we agree to take care of her?" Sinon raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but she can't stay an amnesiac forever. What do we do after that?" His voice betrayed his attempt to conceal his worry.

"I guess…" Sinon instinctively moved to walk closer to Kirito, their shoulders brushing. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Mm." Kirito hummed, taking Sinon's hand and squeezing it. "I guess you're right."

There was a time Asuna might have been jealous of Kirito and Sinon's obvious relationship, but now, her only instinct was to smile.

* * *

"SO..." Sinon nocked an arrow on her pitch-black bow. "MANY…" She let it fly, the heavy silver arrow striking it's target with a satisfying _thud!_ "FROGS!" She screamed, reaching to her quiver for another arrow.

Nearby, Kirito merely chuckled as his blade effortlessly sliced through the low-level dungeon monsters. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad. Plus, we've got so much food we won't need to hunt or buy any for a while!" He only chuckled more once he heard what sounded like a gag from Sinon or Asuna, he wasn't quite sure.

"I can't believe you said that." Sinon looked over to glare at him with a deadpan expression, letting another arrow fly without even aiming. Sure enough, there was another _thud_ as it struck clean through three targets.

"Jeez, Kirito. Are you always freaking her out like this?" Asuna shared Sinon's deadpan expression, as her new rapier jabbed and thrusted relentlessly, utterly destroying anything in front of her.

 _Remind me not to piss her off…_ Kirito thought to himself, before slicing through the last frog. "Come on, let's take a break." He yawned, pointing to the safe zone ahead of them. Kirito slung his sword over his shoulder, and walked off, Sinon still shuddering at the thought of eating frog legs. Reaching the safe zone, Kirito put his back to the wall and sank down, allowing his muscles to relax. Sinon did the same, seemingly automatically landing with her head resting on Kirito's shoulder. Sitting across the hall from them, Asuna found it hard to look at the two, her eyes darting anywhere but where they sat comfortably against the opposite wall. At this, she found herself thinking about Eclipse… But was immediately discouraged from it when she felt her face beginning to turn red.

Making their way deeper into the Black Iron Palace, the three fought plenty of monsters- though strangely they continued getting stronger and stronger, to levels much higher than what should have been possible on the floor. They could tell they were getting close to the end of the dungeon; they could see a safe zone with no passage through it, indicating the end of the area. They would probably be met with a boss-level creature before then, so they were already prepared. Kirito hacked, slashed and whirled like a demon. It seemed he had entered that state of his when combat fuelled his fire, and he became dead to anything else around him. Sinon remained calm and cool, firing off calculated shots with fatal accuracy. All while Asuna took openings with her rapier, striking critical weak points with that scary 'tsundere' look about her, as Kirito pointed out.

Upon seeing the last enemy, Sinon promptly sent an arrow through its head. Kirito drew a hand up to his forehead to wipe away the virtual sweat that had accumulated there.

"I'm actually working up a sweat… In a floor 1 dungeon, too." He laughed, and looked towards the safe zone. In his previous frenzy, he hadn't noticed the figure standing in the brightly-lit white room. "That must be Thinker. Come on, let's see why he's down here."

Strangely, he seemed to be waving them away, and as they got closer, they could see the look of panic on his face. The explosion of noise that followed immediately told them why. As the dust that clouded their vision faded, the dungeon's boss was revealed. A glance at it's level, and Sinon gasped. "Th-that thing doesn't have a level!" She shrieked.

"Well!" Kirito grunted as he jumped to the side, as the huge, skeletal cloaked figure swung its scythe. In the second he was able to see it's name, he read: "The Fatal Scythe". He grit his teeth and swung his heavy sword to meet the boss's second swing in a parry. He didn't expect to be thrown from the force of the blow, barely keeping his sword in his hand. In shock, Kirito hit the floor with a heavy _thud._ He winced as he watched his HP bar drain to about half, but whether it was from the scythe swing or hitting the floor, he wasn't sure. Groaning and still lying on the floor, he pulled out a vial of red liquid and took a few sips. The spicy, sickly sweet taste reminded him slightly of liquified cinnamon candy. Not sure what he was expecting to see, he sat up and was witness to both Sinon and Asuna facing the monstrous creature. It didn't seem as if they were worried about him in the least- but Kirito should have expected that. Neither of the girls, Sinon especially, was a person who would fuss over even their boyfriend unless they were literally on the brink of death.

As the strength slowly returned to his arms and legs, Kirito slowly got up. Sinon, armed with her dagger, and Asuna were steadily being pushed back, despite their combined fighting prowess. _I'm going to have to use it again, aren't I? I never really wanted to show this to anyone, but…_

Gritting her teeth as she had to switch back to her heavy black bow to block a blow along with Asuna, Sinon slid back a few feet, though she kept from falling over. Surprisingly, she heard a menu being opened- from where Kirito had been knocked earlier. She automatically assumed it was him restocking his quick-access pouches with health potions from his inventory. As she nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring taut, she heard quick footsteps, indicating Kirito's charging towards the enemy.

As both Asuna and Sinon turned to look, their eyes widened at the sight of a second, bright teal sword held in Kirito's left hand.

 _No way…_

 _Another…_

 _Unique skill?!_

They both thought, simultaneously. The deadpan look returned to Asuna's face. _Man, he's way too spoiled when it comes to this stuff, Kayaba. Speaking of which, does he even really have a match? I know Eclipse got some crazy stuff up his sleeves… But Kirito really is on another level!_ The two girls were helpless as Kirito's swords began to glow, and he unleashed the unreal 16-hit sword skill, _Starburst Stream._ Under his relentless flurry of attacks, The Fatal Scythe was reduced to holding its scythe up in an attempt to block his attacks, though inevitably, some made it through the boss's defence and struck the target true. Upon the last strike, Kirito jumped back, and landed neatly next to Sinon.

 _That must have done some good damage._ Sinon analyzed, not all that surprised that Kirito had such a trump card. She could understand why he hadn't wanted to tell her about it, though she couldn't help feeling a little hurt. A glance at The Fatal Scythe's 5 health bars told a different story, though. Only about a quarter of its first health bar had been depleted. Kirito's face wore the same look of surprise as Sinon's. He'd been able to solo a field boss with a single combo, which he didn't expect to do here, but he would have liked to see at least one health bar depleted.

 _Swoosh!_ The sound of the huge scythe swinging brought the three out of their thoughts, though the scythe cut through the air far too fast, and it was already too late by the time they realized. The three of them were all thrown back, ugly red gashes across their chests and stomachs. Sinon and Asuna got relatively lucky, and each only parted with half of their respective health points, though Kirito, who was closer to the monster had gotten the worst of it. His ridiculously large health pool had been reduced to a measly 1400 points, almost one twelfth of what it was at full. Sinon, her arms weak, struggled to extract a healing crystal from one of her pouches and ran over.

"Heal!" She pointed the crystal at Kirito, her voice trembling. "How are we going to fight this thing? We can't use crystals unless somebody gets left behind…"

A pattern of light footsteps began to enter their hearing, overpowering the ambient- though urgent- boss music. "Papa! Mama!" Yui bounded down the hall, towards them. The air about her was different, however. Sinon could tell, she seemed less naive and more… Wise, seemed to be the right word.

"Yui!" Kirito yelled, from his spot in her lap, "Don't! That thing is dangerous!"

"Yui! No!" Asuna cried as well.

"It's okay, Papa, Mama, Miss Asuna." The tone she used totally changed Sinon's impression of her from a small child to one who had seen too much…

The Fatal Scythe swung its scythe, prepared to cut the little newcomer in two at the waist. As the point neared her, however, it was suddenly stopped by an invisible wall. The purple identifier that appeared above her shocked Sinon, Asuna and Kirito as much as it did the boss. "IMMORTAL OBJECT."

Beginning to float upwards, Yui raised her arm to summon a large fireball, which in turn swirled away to leave a sword that was at least 5 feet long, flames reaching out from its hilt and licking the blade. With form that could be said to be flawed, she struck the boss on it's head, while the shocked creature just stared back, not offering any form of defence. As if triggered by the sword, a fireball appeared and swallowed the monster, vaporizing it. She landed gracefully and turned to look at her shocked 'parents' and their friend. "My memory has returned. All of it." She affirmed.

* * *

"Mental Health Counselling Program, Prototype 001. Codename, Yui." She said, monotonically.

Asuna and Thinker had already used their teleport crystals to return to town- her excuse was that she didn't want to intrude on the family session that was obviously about to take place- and that she had a date. Though with who, she didn't specify. His excuse… He had been stuck in the dungeon for three days, and Yulier must have been very worried about him.

"I'm just a program. That's all." Yui spoke again, a new level of refinement to her speech.

Kirito and Sinon remained silent, the shock of the situation just beginning to sink in.

Sensing no coming reply, she continued, tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. "Due to my nature, I was given the ability to replicate human emotions. I was created to help players become accustomed to this world. SAO is run by a system called Cardinal. This system controls everything in this world, from AIs to the weather. On launch day, for some reason, it prohibited me from interacting with players- which violated my core objective."

"Why…?" Sinon wondered aloud.

Brushing the tears from her eyes, Yui continued. "I was stuck monitoring the player base's mental parameters from outside the game world. The feelings were constantly ones of depression, guilt, regret. Immense negative emotions. Normally, I would have gone to help those players immediately, but because Cardinal restricted me, I gradually built up errors, until my function began to deteriorate significantly. One day, however, I was brought out of my error-induced trance by a player whose mental parameters were increasingly different from the others… And everyone he came in contact with gradually began to adopt his way of living. Joy, tranquility… That was you, Kirito. And the person who grew closest to him… Sinon."

Their interest was renewed by the fact she had formally used their names, instead of the usual 'mama' and 'papa'.

"In fact, I've always wanted to meet you… Kirito, Sinon." She reached her arms out to them. Unable to listen to her speak alone any further, Sinon slowly stepped forward and pulled Yui into a tight hug. Kirito joined as well, wrapping his arms around the smaller two figures.

"Hey, Yui." He said. "You disobeyed the Cardinal, right? You disobeyed Kayaba… That takes guts… I like it." He smiled.

"Kirito!" Sinon scolded, jokingly.

Yui only giggled, before becoming serious once again. "Yes, and because of that… It is now running a check on my program. I'll probably be deleted soon."

"No…" Sinon whispered. The warmth of Kirito's body left her own as he stepped back to survey the safe room. The black stone slab they were sitting on looked suspiciously like…

"Yui, is this one of the emergency GM consoles?" He asked.

"Yes. It's what I used to get rid of that boss." She replied.

"Are you still logged in?"

"I should be, until I'm deleted." She nodded to him.

"Okay!" He knelt at the console, and as Yui placed a hand on it, a virtual keyboard appeared. Sinon watched in awe as Kirito's hands flew across the keyboard, lines and lines of code being entered into the black display that had appeared above their heads. As he was typing, Yui began to fade.

"Yui! No!" Sinon grabbed her, and pulled her close- as if holding her would keep her from disappearing.

"Papa… It's too late." A tear finally slipped from her eye, rolling down her cheek.

"No!" He grimaced, his fingers flying even faster than before. Tears began to flow down Sinon's face as well, landing on the ground with a _pitter-patter_.

"Not yet!" Kirito hit one final key, and the console disappeared, a force blowing him back. The last fragments of their daughter began to pull together again, forming a humanoid figure, before they resolidified into Yui.

"What did you do?" Sinon stared in shock, the last remnants of her tears being wiped away.

"I changed her ID from a system program to an NPC- to put it simply. Her core programming is also set to store in my Nervegear's local storage once the game is cleared…"

"Papa… How do you know how to do that?" Yui asked, curious.

A glint appeared in Kirito's eye. "I did happen to be a pretty big computer guy back before I got stuck in here, ya know!" He smiled. "Come on, let's get out of here." He said, pulling two crystals from a pouch inside his coat. Sinon nodded, and retrieved one as well.

 _Teleport! Town of Beginnings!_

* * *

 **A/N:** First thing, as always, is to thank Crimiduck and Reaper2908- I haven't contacted them in a while because of my long absence (Posiden666 will tell you it was short, but he's crazy, don't listen to him.) , and they were especially speedy this time! Thanks guys! Also, special thanks to Rstyle. Back when only the first 500 or so words of this chapter were written, I was pretty hit by writers block, full-force and he helped me out of it.

Okay! Important stuff! THERE IS A POLL UP ON MY PROFILE for what you guys want to see after I finish this story, which should be soon. Like, before or on chapter 18 soon. I'll leave it up until hm... A week after I upload my last chapter, and after that, you can expect a whole new story! Also, I've now gotten more than one request to continue LightofFenrir's story, _The Return of the Black Swordsman_. I know it isn't an option in the poll, but if you want to see me do that, drop me a PM. No, not you, Rstyle. You already did that. Finally, I'll be away for two weeks during spring break, in which I will not be able to work on anything, AT ALL! I guess it's good that I've already finished half of the next chapter for Don't Fear the Dark, eh? Well! That's all for now!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	16. Rain

**A/N:** Well... It's almost over. Sincerely, thank you all for hanging around, and I hope you've enjoyed!

* * *

Sixteen - Rain

* * *

Kirito and Sinon stepped away from the bed with sighs of relief, as Yui finally began to emit the most adorable soft snores.

"After she asked for the fourth bedtime story, I basically lost all hope that she was going to go to sleep." Kirito muttered, stepping out the sliding door onto the wooden cabin's balcony. It was around eight at night, and the only light for miles was from the oil lamps of their quaint home.

Sinon giggled. "I can't believe roping you into telling her all the stories worked."

Kirito sat down in the rocking chair they had placed outside, and in an unexpected move, Sinon joined him by sitting in his lap, straddling him.

"Um…" Kirito gawked at her sudden aggressiveness, until she leaned down and met his lips with hers. This wasn't something the couple got to experience often- now that there was a child around. Kirito only served to tease her by keeping his mouth tight, not allowing her entrance. Finally, Sinon sat back and pouted.

"Don't tease m- ah!" She didn't get to finish, as Kirito leaned forward to nip and suck on the side of her neck.

"Shh…" Kirito paused for a second to place his finger to her lips. "Don't wake Yui." He drew a line up her neck with kisses before placing a peck at the corner of her mouth.

"You're goddamn lucky that this game doesn't process bruises like real life, or Yui would ask about the bruise on my neck," she said huskily, all while slightly adjusting her position to try and cause Kirito's mouth to match up with hers. When she wasn't rewarded for her efforts, Sinon whimpered. Kirito wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush to him, crushing what little space remained between them.

"Mm…" Sinon opened her mouth to whisper something into Kirito's ear, when they heard Yui shifting under the covers. It seemed they had forgotten to close the door behind them. Startled, Sinon jumped back a little- out of Kirito's embrace- and began to fall, until Kirito caught her.

"Well," He chuckled, "I'll go check to see if she's asleep." Sinon gingerly stood up, and felt the bruise that was already beginning to form on her neck while Kirito walked inside. She turned to rest her arms on the railing of the balcony, staring out over the moonlit lake. Through the closed sliding door, she could hear snippets of Kirito and Yui's conversation.

"… Woke you up?"

"Nothing, really."

"Did you see…"

"… I understand human signs of affection, daddy. It's okay."

Then she heard a defeated sigh, a few more muffled words, and the screen door sliding open, then scraping shut. Light, tapping footsteps padded to beside where Sinon was standing, and Kirito gingerly wrapped his arm around her waist. His previous fire had been quenched somewhat, replaced by love.

"It's beautiful out," he breathed.

"Yeah…" Sinon drew in a deep breath, relishing in the fresh air of the 22nd floor. "Don't you just love the way that the lake glistens under the moon?"

"That's not what I meant."

Sinon looked to Kirito to catch him gazing at her. "Shut up, dork."

"So… Where were we?"

* * *

"Mm. Don't think I've had a meal like that in all the eighteen years I've been alive." Eclipse said, as he sat back from the table where he was sitting, across from Asuna.

"Oh, it was nothing. Cooking in this game is oversimplified." She sipped her tea nonchalantly.

"Easy for you to say. I barely ever cook." A sort of masculine pout forced its way onto his face.

The artificial candlelight flickered throughout the house, unusually bright, but comforting. The whole atmosphere felt welcoming. However, if one was to pay attention, was sort of strange. It could be described as bright daylight, but with only the moon in the sky.

Asuna shifted in her seat, eyebrows pulled to the centre of her head. She leaned back in her seat and pursed her lips. Everything about her displayed nervousness.

"Something bothering you?" Of course, Eclipse knew exactly what her mind was on- they were both at the meeting. The ninety-ninth floor boss fight was the day after- the one that would unlock access to the one hundredth and final floor. Finally, an end to the death game that had taken over five thousand lives was in sight. The two Knights of the Blood Oath members were particularly on edge, as it was almost the final floor, and they had received no information from scouts since the eighty-seventh- scout parties had been abolished with doors regularly closing behind people as soon as they had entered the boss room.

"You know exactly what's bothering me. We can't ignore it- especially not now." It was true.

"What do you think it'll be?" Eclipse leaned over the table and rested his chin on his propped up arms.

"Honestly, I've no clue. I would try to guess based on what the previous bosses were, but there's no pattern there at all."

"Regardless, it's getting late. We'd best rest up- big day tomorrow." He pushed back from the table and left the chair, and walked down the hall. As he turned to open the door, he cast a sidelong glance at Asuna, who was still at the table, with a sly smile. "Care to join me?"

* * *

The three commanders of the Knights of the Blood Oath stood in a small triangle, facing the crowd of swordsmen. Heathcliff stood stoically as ever while Asuna and Eclipse discussed quietly but frantically behind his back- indicating their under-preparedness.

"Alright!" Heathcliff raised his voice above the chatter of the crowd, and the heads turned as if they were mounted on swivels. "I've got an announcement to make."

At this, the heads began to turn back to their hushed conversations- there wasn't an important announcement left to make. After they had started going into boss fights blind, their levels of success varied greatly. The clearers had lost five on the ninety-fourth floor, but none on the floor after. It was the unpredictability of the situation that frayed one's nerves.

"Look at me!" His voice rang out once again, uncharacteristically demanding. "This is where I say goodbye."

 _Say goodbye? What the hell?_ Eclipse thought, panic gathering into a ball at the pit of his stomach.

"My original plan was to accompany you all to the seventy-fifth floor, but you all proved you still needed me after that."

Eclipse bit back a witty insult in order to hear the rest of what the paladin had to say.

"The truth is…" Heathcliff continued, over the eerie silence that blanketed the sixty-strong raid force.

"The truth is that you're Akihiko Kayaba! Isn't that right?" A familiar voice pierced through the silence. _Kirito._

"Hmph. So it seems you've known for a while." He focused his patronizing stare on the black swordsman.

"I've had a hunch ever since we had that best out of three dual tournament. The way you blocked those hits- it should have been impossible." Kirito shook his head.

"Ah, yes. I knew you'd sensed something fishy the first time I accidentally triggered the system assist- and I couldn't use it again, which is why I lost. You truly are strong, Kirito." Kayaba's gaze softened.

Finally, the shock that had been muting the rest of the players wore off, and the shouting began.

"You bastard!"

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I'm going to kill you!"

The last threat had come from Eclipse himself- his teeth grit, hand moving to pull his sword from its sheath in one swift motion. Before his eyes even registered what had happened, Heathcliff had moved to block Eclipse's sword before he'd even realized that it had been swung. However, the former provided no retaliation. The desired effect was achieved, though, as the resulting clang shut the mouths of the gathered players.

"I am the final floor boss. I await you all in the Ruby Palace."

And with that, Akihiko Kayaba dissolved into green lines of code, and even those dissolved, until the raid party was left without a leader. Asuna sensed that this was the calm before the storm, so she took the time to shout out.

"Now is not the time for panic or chaos! Everything we've fought for for two and a half years is at stake! Failure is NOT an option!" Her voice carried over the crowd, surprisingly commanding.

"Yeah… She's right." Mumbles throughout the group voiced their agreement, allowing Asuna to let out a sigh of relief. She noticed the crowd shuffling and parting, and Kirito stepped forward, Sinon close behind.

"Come on." He nodded towards the tall door, decorated to depict a rainstorm. "It's now or never." Placing his hand on the doors, the huge hunks of metal swung open as if they were light as feathers. Once again awed into silence, the raid party walked through the door into the largest arena they'd seen. The ceiling was impossibly tall- so tall that ominous smokey clouds had formed somewhere between where they were standing on the ground and the roof that was surely above. Taking previous arenas into consideration, this one was, by all standards, huge. A circle of stone that spanned at least five hundred meters in diameter, bordered by a still ring of water, 30 meters wide. The walls were covered in elegant drawings of lightning, thunder, hurricanes and tornadoes, with the same two figures occasionally appearing throughout.

Finally, the last of the raid group filtered through the door- and as expected, it shut behind them. At this, the river began to churn and flow rapidly in one direction, and the clouds overhead begin to circle in the opposite. Then, a large figure slowly emerged from the water at the end of the boss room. It seemed as if he was a regular man that had been upscaled several times, wearing standard Edo-period bushi armour, but the aura of power radiating from him suggested differently. The name which appeared over his head proved thus: Raijin.

To the shock of the players, another figure began to descend from behind them, through the clouds. He looked quite similar to Raijin, but his samurai armour was white, not green. His chiseled expression matched that of the other boss perfectly, and his name was equally startling: Fujin.

"Two of them? What the…" Sinon merely turned back and forth, examining the two.

"This is bad…" Kirito groaned. "Fujin and Raijin are the Shinto gods of wind and thunder, respectively. In the myths they always fight each other- but if they've teamed up against us… That's bad news."

"We'll just have to take them on. Sinon, Kirito, you guys go for Raijin. Asuna and I can handle this guy in the white armour." Eclipse raised his voice and yelled over the conversation that was beginning to start up, "Knights of the Blood Oath, with me! The Dragon Alliance should back up Kirito and Sinon. The rest of you… Pick a target, I don't really care which one- just keep it even!"

At that, the two bosses roared, and pulled previously invisible katana blades from sheaths behind their waists, charging forward to meet their allocated half of the raid force. Based on what he knew, Eclipse had divided the forces best he could. Raijin should have been the fast one, being related to lightning, thunder and such- a perfect match for someone like Kirito. On top of that, he couldn't control wind like Fujin could, allowing Sinon an easier time. Heavier fighters like he and most of the paladins populating the KBO, would have a less grating experience fighting a wind-based god.

As the mighty katana swung, Eclipse could almost feel the huge current of wind being generated behind it. It was coming a lot faster than he expected, and it was all he could do to scrape his sword out of it's sheath just in time to knock the blow askew- but that did nothing to soften the impact, and he was thrown to the side- just to the bank of the now raging river. Through his blurry vision, he could now see that the bosses had three health bars each. Eclipse smirked. _So, Kayaba. I see you aren't a complete a-hole after all?_

All the bones in his body felt like rubber. Getting his arms underneath him to push himself back up to his feet was an entire battle on his own, and upon standing up, his stumbles almost caused him to fall back into the river. No doubt, if that had happened, he'd have been a goner. Shaking his head to clear the fuzz, Eclipse ran forward, back into the fray, where the white-clad shield wielders were enduring strike after strike, Fujin's huge katana scraping sparks off of the solid metal wall.

Finally, he realized the state of his health bar. _Gah, crap! It's in the orange zone already?!_ His hand fumbled to his waist underneath his long jacket to find the quick access pouch full of healing potions. "Whatever you do, do NOT get hit!" He yelled, before downing the potion in a swift gulp. There was no way he'd admit it, but he actually quite enjoyed the taste of the potions in the game- most of them tasted like various flavours of cough syrup. Only then was he able to return to the fight, where he actually kept his sword unsheathed for the majority of the battle- which, with his fighting style- a modified sort of iaijutsu, was a rare occurrence.

Sinon never felt particularly useful during these long, drawn out boss fights. She'd seen Raijin and Fujin both take tons of damage, but strangely, they hadn't changed forms whatsoever. They continued their sort of two-handed katana wielding dutifully- as if there were no other tricks up either of their sleeves. As soon as Kirito landed a dual-swipe combo on Raijin, however, things changed. Both of the gods simultaneously knelt down and bowed their heads, huge gourds materializing in front of them. At this, Fujin's gourd began to spout some sort of white vapour into the sky, while Raijin's emitted lightning- which illuminated the clouds and the walls eerily. As soon as they were finished, the gourds shattered into clay pieces, then disappeared all-together.

Her archery undeniably had positive effects on her opponents, such as stunning them or just straight out damaging them- sometimes, she felt inadequate because she merely stayed back to snipe for the entire battle. Loud cracks sounded from overhead, shaking her from her self-loathing. The whole arena had become dark, the previous ambient lighting that didn't really have a source beginning to fade. Raindrops began to stain the ground, and soon, the light drizzle became a hurricane, albeit without the swirling winds. Fujin and Raijin were barely visible, the only bright lighting emitted by occasional strikes of lightning. The banks of the river began to recede- and the water started rising, ever so slowly.

 _Crap. That means…_ "There's a time limit!" Kirito, who had apparently come to the same conclusion, yelled presumably at Eclipse, who was currently in a three-way sword lock- he and Asuna vs. Fujin. Kirito's yell only furthered his resolve, and he pushed whatever strength he had left into redirecting the huge katana. It was seemingly enough, as the boss was knocked off balance, allowing all of their high-damage dealers to pepper him with blows, the red slices and cuts glowing through the dark rain. In an unexpected move, however, the god's foot came down heavily, resulting in a shockwave-type attack. Several KBO members were knocked back into the raging waters which threatened to drown them all if they weren't fast enough in dealing with the two. The screams and the bright polygons which floated up afterwards were all the required indication that getting caught in the current was fatal.

The battle became increasingly harder, casualty numbers rising due to a combination of the gods' more unpredictable movements, the weather, and the increased panic due to the time limit- which by that point, was running out. Naturally, the gods could move about the arena freely, gaining a larger and larger advantage, as, if any of the players were to so much as step in the water, they'd be swept away.

Sinon kept firing arrow after arrow into Raijin's eyes- or where she assumed them to be. It was increasingly hard to be an archer in the adverse conditions, and only one in ten shots hit their targets. She grit her teeth, "Damn." Suddenly, an unfamiliar sensation invaded her senses. Her the inside of her mouth tasted of copper and all of her hairs stood on end. The next thing she knew, she had toppled over and her head was resting on the damp ground, the smell of ozone and water mixing to form the smell one would witness after a long storm, but there was also a lingering whiff of smoke which caused her a small degree of distress. Trying to speak, she coughed instead- and was overcome with a wave of nausea that most likely would have caused her to expel the contents of her stomach through her mouth had she not been in a game. Instead, she merely retched at the floor.

"Sinon! Are you alright?" Suddenly, Kirito was there, shaking her shoulder. She held up a hand to ward him off, hoping to save her dignity. "You got hit by lightning, I think… Take this." He shoved a healing potion into the hand she'd raised. She sat back and drank it, and was barely healed completely from where she had been in the low yellow. "Your bow is over there… Be careful." Kirito pointed and turned to stand up, ready to rush back towards the boss, where he'd been the strongest fighter, no contest.

"Wait." Sinon grabbed the end of his coat, and he turned around. "C'mere." She smirked, and pulled him into a quick kiss. Her lips still tasted of sickly sweet cinnamon, but the determination and the worry came through. They broke away, smiling. "I'm the one who should be telling you to be careful," Sinon smirked. "Now go."

With that, Kirito returned to the fight, running with both his swords held out. Sinon's bow still lay on the ground, smoking and charred. The string was snapped. "Damn it." She always tried to avoid grinding her teeth, but she couldn't suppress it this time. "Screw it." She began to pull daggers out of the pouches around her waist, her wet blue hair blurring her vision- the same seeping coldness preventing her fingers in being effective to retrieve the small kunai knives that were her secondary weapons.

She dashed forward and began to throw knife after knife at the giant, each one not even having a visible effect on his health, but after about ten or so while all the other players couldn't even land hits, his health finally dropped by a sliver. Raijin seemingly realized that she was the biggest threat at the moment, and sacrificed another sliver of his health to grab her.

"GOD DAMN IT, PUT HER DOWN!" Kirito screamed. With newly refreshed rage, he vaulted off of the giant's semi-bent knee and waited until he was in front of his face unleashing one of his strongest dual-blade skills, _Starburst Stream._ Luckily the HDA members supporting them weren't idiots, and attacked relentlessly at the opportunity. Slowly but surely, his health dropped until it finally reached zero.

The Holy Dragon Alliance cheered, and Kirito caught Sinon bridal-style, landing on the ground gracefully. Small cuts were visible on his face, obviously from where the boss tried to retaliate with his katana. The alarming issue, however, was the glowing red crater in his side, where the boss had punched him in a moment of confusion.

Of course, Fujin was still very much alive- he had half of his last health bar left. Seemingly unfazed by his partner's death, he continued to swipe people off the arena into the water, as well as using his control over wind to part the crowd and send them flying. Eclipse and Asuna were obviously tired- Eclipse had an eye closed and was hunched over. Asuna's rapier was practically falling out of her hand, her breathing laboured.

Kirito began to run over, but was stopped by a yell from Sinon. "Kirito! Take a potion first!"

"There's no time, Sinon! People are _DYING_ over there!" He yelled, before turning once again to run towards the battle. "Eclipse! Help me out here!"

Seemingly knowing, Eclipse gathered all of his strength in his arms and clasped them together, allowing Kirito to spring off of them, with Eclipse assisting by throwing him upwards as well.

The Black Swordsman unleashed his trump card- The Eclipse, a ridiculous twenty-seven hit combo, a decider at this stage in the fight. This time, all the other fighters stood and stared in awe, a few with worry, as the boss landed hit after hit in retaliation.

At long last, a sliver of the boss remained, and not a moment too soon. Kirito had come to the last hit of his allocated twenty-seven, a sharp jab that should have taken care of everything. But nobody could have predicted what came next. In an unexpected move, and his last act of malevolence, Fujin lashed out with a punch, hitting Kirito square in the chest, sending him flying into the wall of the circular room. In the moment of shock, Eclipse delivered two powerful slices to the god's legs, killing him.

 _Klein… Eclipse… Asuna, Sinon…_ At that last name, Kirito's face formed its way into a grimace, though not from physical pain. No, it was emotional, because he knew he was about to leave them all behind. _Keep on living… Live to your fullest potential!_ At this, Kirito's grimace was dismantled into a sad smile, as he smacked into the wall, and began to fall.

"Somebody catch him!" Eclipse yelled, but he knew it was a futile effort. His health already deteriorating to zero, Kirito peeled off of the wall and fell into the water. Soon after, blue polygons rising to the surface and floated away, indicating the inevitable.

Kirito was dead.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow, okay! This took me WAY longer to write than I had originally planned for... Sorry about that, guys! Furthermore, I feel like I'm probably going to finish this before doing another chapter for DFD. Probably.

Thanks so much to Crimiduck and Reaper2908 for being great editors/supporters!

So, ninety-ninth floor. I realize that I haven't been focusing on floors and boss battles so much, and that's because they were never really the point of this story to begin with- it was just a KiritoxSinon fic some kid was writing out of his room, but now it's become a little more than that, and I thank you guys.

Anyway, it's not the end yet, so I'll save some mushy stuff for the fated last chapter!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	17. Empty

**A/N:** Heh, I don't even know how many of you are still reading this, I take so long to update. Regardless, enjoy!

* * *

Seventeen - Empty

* * *

The hardest floor boss- or bosses- that the clearers had fought were dead- though there was no celebration. Not when aside from Kirito, at least ten others had died. Players milled about the now-empty room, unsure of what to do. The lucky few that hadn't lost anyone dear to them seemed to refuse to leave, maybe out of a sense of duty. Why did they get to be the lucky ones?

That's exactly what Sinon was thinking, as she sat numbly on her haunches, her tears reduced to thin dribbles. Asuna made no attempt to conceal, or even stop her crying- she'd practically created two miniature waterfalls. Klein sniffled. Agil and Eclipse stood aside stoically, downtrodden expressions riddling their faces. Every time Sinon had the slightest thought to get up, she'd take a shaky breath, remember his smile again, and lose all will to move.

"I could've-" Klein began, but Eclipse promptly walked over and put a hand on top of the kneeling samurai's head.

"There's no way you could've reached him with that revival item. His remains-" he glanced nervously at Sinon, as if making sure he hadn't overstepped, "got swirled away. There's no way." He repeated again, shaking his head. Mostly to himself, this time.

"But don't you just feel like if there was something you'd done differently-" The red haired samurai ventured, before being interrupted again- this time by a gruff, low voice.

"We all know the feeling, Klein. Dwelling on it isn't going to help any of us." Agil's expression looked as if it had been painstakingly chiseled into stone with the wrong measurements. The mix of sourness and guilt didn't suit the man's kind face.

Sinon shuddered again, holding a sob in.

"Sinon…" Eclipse began for Asuna, sensing that she wanted to help- but was crying too much to do so.

Her reaction was all but unexpected. Swiftly, she swiped her fingers and navigated to her inventory. Pulling out a teleport crystal, she muttered a phrase that sounded reminiscent of "Teleport, Coral." Seconds later, the blue crystals that had enveloped her disappeared, and the four friends that remained stood speechless, unable to comprehend the pain the blue-haired sniper was feeling.

* * *

She understood the crying. She understood the depressed expression on Yui's face. But why… why did it hurt so much? Every time he pushed his way back up through her consciousness so that she could see him on the backs of her eyelids… hear him laugh, another wave of grief racked her body along with an ache in her chest that felt like her heart was threatening to explode.

Sinon would turn a corner in their cozy log home and expect him to be sitting at the table, or lying on a couch with a dumb expression written over his face. Hell, she wouldn't care if he was rolling in the mud outside- as long as he was there. She could almost believe that they had just been separated again… Or even that he was on a long mission and he couldn't come home. Then she would remember the sickening _splat_ sound he'd made when he smacked into the wall, and had to stand there to blink back tears for a good five minutes.

Having no other vent for her emotion, she turned to anger. _Curse you, Kayaba! I'll make you pay._ Sinon sat down on the couch, defeated. She realized that she was sitting in the same position as usual, when Kirito would lie down with his head in her lap after a hard day of dungeon-clearing. Before she could spend too long thinking about it, however, there was a knock at the front door. She couldn't see who was standing outside, so her hand hovered above the doorknob in hesitation.

That is, until Asuna's muted voice resonated from the other side. "Sinon?"

Relieved and worried at the same time, Sinon slowly turned the doorknob and pulled the heavy wooden door back to reveal her friend's streaked face. No sooner than that, she was wrapped in a pair of shaking, thin but strong arms. Unable to bring herself to move her arms to hug Asuna back, Sinon stared blankly into the other girl's chestnut brown hair.

"Agh, I don't even know what to say. I'm a hot mess." Asuna's gentle voice soothed Sinon a little, but it was like tossing a cup of water on to a forest fire. The burning sensation in her chest returned immediately.

"Of course you don't," the words slipped out of Sinon's mouth, and she immediately regretted them. She couldn't muster the effort to apologize, however, and followed up with another sob. Lucky for her, Asuna hadn't heard what she said. Or if she had, she didn't let on- Sinon was grateful for that. Slowly but surely, Asuna grabbed Sinon's hand and led her to the couch, but not before closing the door.

"Don't blame yourself."

"I'm not." Sinon managed a weak reply, her mouth almost refusing to move. "I just… I can't believe- no, I refuse to-"

"I know, me too. I can't believe he's gone. He can't be. Not after everything."

These words merely triggered Sinon's memories once more. She thought of all the little things she took for granted. The way he rubbed the back of his neck when he felt nervous, that light chuckle whenever Yui ate something spicy and made her cute sour face. His innocent, but sometimes flirty and playful nature. All of that had been taken from her- taken from him. He'd had one chance- and it was revoked prematurely. Fearful that any attempts to speak would result in another breakdown, Sinon remained silent.

"But even saying that, I still feel like he's alive."

This left Sinon wide-eyed. "Wh-what makes you say that?"

"It's just a feeling, I guess. But maybe everybody has that feeling when somebody they knew… you know… passes away."

"You don't have to beat around the bush, Asuna. The word 'dies' isn't what bothers me." Sinon wrung her hands, in a feeble attempt to calm herself down.

This time, Asuna provided the defeated sigh. At this point, there was nothing left to say. Asuna, however, couldn't deal with the silence, so she continued with the lame, "What now?"

Inexplicably, these simple two words lit a fire in Sinon. It wasn't a fire of mourning- it was a fire of vengeance and determination. "We fight." She said, gritting her teeth.

"What?"

"We fight Kayaba. Make him pay for everything he's done. Not just Kirito… thousands of people have died in this sick game. He has to go." The fire consumed her guilt and anguish just as easily as a real blaze would consume a strand of firewood. The pain was dulled, and in it's place came anticipation. A twisted sort of anticipation, but it was something she looked forward to nonetheless.

* * *

If there was one thing in his life that Kirito would ever be sure of, it would be that he was dead. Even though he didn't want to believe it, deep down, he admitted that the NerveGear he was wearing had fried his brain. What he didn't understand was: why could he see his arms? Even his self-described small mind could comprehend everything else being pitch-black, but seeing his body was strange. Suddenly, a feeling he couldn't begin to describe washed over him- which he would later compare to ice-cold molasses dripping through his hair and soaking through his jacket.

After a short blackout (or his eyes could have been open, he couldn't tell,) he realized he was having an out-of-body experience, literally. His point of view had been pulled from his eyes, and now observed his neutrally-posed body from above. He could no longer feel any of his limbs- it was as if his consciousness was tied to a camera following his body. He could still move somehow- as if he instinctually knew what to do to zoom, pan and orbit. It was a little like a segway- he would imagine bending forward at the waist, and subsequently would start moving forwards. The thought that equated to turning the head rotated his view.

Upon using these controls to navigate in front of himself, the first thing to be noticed were the dull, lifeless eyes. Then, to his horror, not-Kirito drew his hands up to his shoulders, and unsheathed his twin blades.

A voice spoke out of the darkness. "Come on, Kirito. Don't be that way, you should just be grateful that I did not kill you."

"Who the hell are- wait…" He'd heard that voice before- and somehow, he himself still had one. Light hair, blood-red armour… "Kayaba."

"Yes, that's me. Regardless, you've proven yourself quite useful to the clearers throughout the two years that you all have been stuck here… I think it would be fitting for you to be part of their final challenge, too."

"What do you mean?" Kirito clenched his teeth, his nerves fraying.

"It was quite literal, Kirito."

Suddenly, the dots connected. Kirito's point of view being disconnected from his avatar, and it's moving without his input. "You wouldn't."

"I will. And you can watch."

* * *

There was never an ending. Every time Eclipse felt like he and Asuna had completed the hardest task possible- the worst quest the Knights of the Blood Oath had given them, or even the last boss fight, there was always something around the corner that was just a little bit worse, a little harder. He suspected Kirito and Sinon felt this way also, but supposed that that was how a game was supposed to work.

Eclipse sat lazily on a couch in the dimly-lit main sitting room of the humble Selmburg home he shared with Asuna. Other than vaguely hearing the shower turn off, he paid no attention to his surroundings. Staring blankly at a wall, he merely contemplated the past two years. Sure, he complained about never-ending quests, but Kirito had met the final ending. There was nothing more he'd ever get to experience, feel, or know. Suddenly, Eclipse found himself sincerely wishing that Kirito had done everything he'd wanted in life.

At this, a door down the hall creaked open, and Asuna walked into the hall in a casual white blouse, trimmed with red. When he saw her, he smiled wanly. Her eyes smiled back, and she gently moved through the hallway, seemingly floating, to sit next to Eclipse, resting her head on his shoulder. His automatic response was to wrap an arm around her and pull her to his side.

"Call me a terrible person… But half of the time, I can only think: thank god it wasn't you." Eclipse smirked without humour, maybe at himself for being cheesy, or maybe for brushing Kirito's death off like that.

"No, I feel like that too. I can only imagine what Sinon is going through. No, scratch that. I _can't_ imagine," Asuna murmured, nuzzling a little further into his neck.

"Yeah… How was she when you left her?" He questioned.

Asuna sat up abruptly. "She seemed… Strange. Like, bent on killing Kayaba for revenge. While I get the feeling, it's not like her."

Eclipse thought for a moment, deciding on what was best to say. "I guess it's a way for her to distract herself. From her grief."

"You really think she'd do something like that?"

He stared through the floor-to-ceiling window, his eyes barely focusing on the spots of light in Selmburg's night. "Anyone would."

That was enough for Asuna, as she leaned over again and rested on his shoulder, his arm automatically going up to protect her from the darkness. "Remember that time when Kirito revealed _another_ unique skill?"

Asuna laughed lightly. "To be fair, his first 'unique' skill wasn't unique, he just got it before anybody else found out about it. Plus, you have it, don't you?"

"Iaijutsu is different." Eclipse pouted. "My sword is sheathed for most of the time, and I still manage to kill everything."

Asuna giggled again. "Wow, so _strong_ ," she enunciated in a seductive tone, bringing on a furious blush from Eclipse that, luckily, she couldn't see. "Oh, yeah. Did Sinon ever tell you that they spent two nights together before they were ever actually in a relationship?"

"WHAT?" Eclipse would have done a backflip, had he not been sitting on a couch with his girlfriend resting on his shoulder.

Asuna straightened up to slap him lightly, then relaxed again. "Not like that, stupid. She… Ah… Anyway, it wasn't what you think."

"Oh. Good. I thought he'd gotten ahead of me there." This time, Asuna slapped him harder, though in the arm. A blush began to redden her face.

"Shut up."

Eclipse only chuckled. "Sinon didn't tell you about 'date night,' did she?"

Of course, Asuna knew what he was talking about. In fact, he'd tried to get her to go multiple times, but she'd always vehemently refused. _The two sub-commanders of the Knights of the Blood Oath? DATING? OMGOMGOMGOMG!_ Or at least, that's how she'd imagined the public reaction being. "No, she didn't."

"Oh, you missed out! Kirito told me about it… You know, when we went missing for like, three days?" He made an obscene hand-twirling gesture, as if to suggest ' _way back when_ '. "Basically, they met after being separated for a while after their first greeting…"

"They what?" Asuna asked, obviously confused at his overuse of words.

"Whatever. Just go with it. She hadn't had anything to eat all day, and-"

"Ohhh," Asuna interjected, "I know where this is going."

And the couple sat there, almost until the first hours of dawn. Watching the stars, and telling stories of the legendary black swordsman who had gone, fighting, into the night.

* * *

 **A/N:** HA! NO REVIVAL ITEM! Look at that, I actually killed the main character. Okay, he's not dead, but... He's presumed dead. He's supposed to be dead. He's... Ah, whatever. You all get the point. In all seriousness, I just wanted to break up the pacing before getting back to the action, but people have also been nagging me for updates to my other story. What to do... Maybe I'll just leave this alone for a year. HA! Wouldn't that be something? Also, while the OCxAsuna thing isn't really stated in the summary, I figured that it wasn't quite important. My proofreader hasn't exactly gone through this yet, but I got impatient, and I assume you all did too. Leave a review, follow or favourite to show your support! (Or don't do any of those things if you don't have any.) Oh, and the first several chapters of this story are DEFINITELY getting a rewrite. And I have to do a sequel and... ANYWAY, that should be all!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	18. Endgame

**A/N:** As the title would suggest, it's _finally_ over. More details below.

* * *

Eighteen - Endgame

* * *

The 100th floor. Asuna repeated it in her head like a mantra, as if it were the only thing her life had led up to. Of course, after more than two years stuck in Sword Art Online, she could barely remember what her room in real life looked like—or, for that matter, what her mother's stern face looked like. It felt as if she'd grown up in the game, next to a brother and a lover. What would she do once she got out? Would everything just… Go back to normal?

Would she even be able to adapt to a normal life again?

A light squeeze of her hand returned her attention to the gravity of the situation. Just about every capable player gathered at the pinnacle of Aincrad, the beautiful Ruby Palace. The last two weeks since the 99th floor boss fight had been filled with preparation, and the players had gotten less and less sleep every night. Asuna felt that Kirito might show up at any time, flashing that crazy smirk and telling lame jokes, but it never happened. And it made her heart ache.

"Ready?" Eclipse nodded at her, squeezing again.

Not able to find the breath to speak (nor the right words to say), Asuna merely smiled back; she hoped it didn't look as forced as it felt. Without the firm leadership of Heathcliff, the players didn't have the same sort of drive and attitude as before. Technically, Asuna was the leader of the Knights of the Blood, but during the last two weeks she had relegated most of the related duties to Eclipse. He, she had argued, was a much better candidate for leadership—but something that embarrassed her to no end was that she had no clue how to transfer the 'Leader' role of a guild. The role had automatically fallen on her, as the second-in-command, when Kayaba had left.

In short, Heathcliff had left a void—a void Asuna and Eclipse weren't intent on filling, and one that Lind and the Holy Dragon Alliance were trying to fill. Their efforts were noticed, though it was far from adequate. An audible throat-clearing further quieted the already muted conversation.

"Um, players!" Lind yelled, hoping to project his voice over a crowd of more than 100. "We have all come far, and lost many of those dear to us. On this hundredth and final fight, we must strive to put all of our strength forward and push through to the end!"

Eclipse nearly laughed. It was a lacklustre attempt, at best. Compared to Heathcliff's speeches, it was downright cringe-worthy. The developer of Sword Art Online may have been a bastard, but he sure knew how to lead, for a nerd.

"We all know what's at stake!"

Oh god, he's not done.

"Behind those doors is Kayaba Akihiko! The sonuvabitch that put us here for almost three damn years! Let us regain our freedom. FOR THE FALLEN!"

A hundred collective voices called out as one, heard all the way on the first floor of Aincrad. "FOR THE FALLEN!"

Now, Eclipse did laugh, though not unnoticed by a few menacing glares. Way to finish strong.

Come to think of it, he wasn't so sure why he was mentally commenting on Lind's speech, or why he even found it worthwhile to compare it to Kayaba's. Was it nerves? The expression "butterflies in the stomach" had been raised to a whole new level—in fact, it felt a bit more like "golf balls slamming around in the chest". There was a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, and a terrible burden weighing on his chest, but he couldn't comprehend why.

Then the doors opened. As the first twenty or so players filed dutifully into the room, everything stopped.

Eclipse was easily dwarfed by the massive men in front, so he couldn't see what had happened. But he heard gasps. A sword, slipping out of someone's hand, clattered harmlessly on the floor. The clearers of Sword Art Online were not people who would lay down their swords at a time like this, and that's what worried him. Slowly but surely, Eclipse pushed through to the front, pulling Asuna along behind him. No comments were issued, just solemn looks, as if to say: Oh, you don't know yet.

He reached the front of the crowd, and as he frantically elbowed his way through two other warriors, what he saw in front of him shocked him.

His eyes widened.

His jaw went slack.

He was glad his sword was still sheathed, because he sure as hell would have dropped it as well.

A boy in a long black coat stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a man in blood-red armour, dual blades drawn and glinting murderously. The red translucent walls of the Ruby Palace rose all around them forming strange, though majestic spires and dips. The roof was open to the sky, like a corrupted coliseum.

"K-Kirito?" Asuna managed to choke out.

"Oh, he can't hear you. Do you really think I'd allow him to be in a state where he might help you? Alas, he isn't dead as you thought." Heathcliff spoke humourlessly, although an amused expression still resided on his features.

Eclipse's voice came out as a low growl- much more aggressive than he'd intended for it to be. "Kayaba," he seethed, "You would do something like this? Who do you think you a—"

"God." Heathcliff's answer came sharp and loud, cutting Eclipse off. "Simply put, I am the god of this world. I can—and have—shaped this world to be just like the floating metal castle of my dreams!" He spread his hands, like there was nothing else for him to do. "Shall we get the fight underway, then—if you want to leave. We don't have all day." Heathcliff completely ignored the fact that they did, in fact, have the entire day, and extracted his sword and shield from the ground in front of him, where they had just been impaled. Kirito cocked his wrists and levelled his swords.

"Oh, but we can't be fighting over a hundred of you. I doubt even Kirito and I together could take that many." Heathcliff deadpanned; and just like that, blue fire lit up the crowd. Bodies began disappearing faster than Eclipse could count, and sooner rather than later, there were only about twenty clearers left. The floor-to-ceiling doors closed, and finally, Eclipse drew his sword.

* * *

He knew he should have been feeling a whole slew of other emotions, but Kirito was mostly just bored. Akihiko Kayaba had doomed him to fight against his friends and his enemies alike, but Kirito had already accepted that there was nothing he could do. If there was anything he understood, it was computers. The only real worry he had was about Sinon; he prayed to whatever higher force or power that by some miracle, she hadn't come to the final fight. That way, she wouldn't have to see that he was alive, that he was _against_ her. He knew that would cause her irreparable pain.

As Heathcliff picked up his weapons, Kirito himself perked up. Oh, so it's starting?

Among the clearers Heathcliff had left, Kirito saw almost all of his friends. Klein, Agil, Eclipse, Asuna. To his relief, he didn't spot anyone with bl—Shit. There she was. Her blue hair had lost its shine in the red-tinted light of the Ruby Palace. She looked as beautiful as ever, wearing the black and blue armour she had received as a last attack bonus on floor 96, which left little to imagination. He knew she didn't like wearing it, so she must've planned to go all out. She still held the bow he'd given her on the 50th floor. It may have been the most powerful bow in the game, but even it would have trouble carrying her all the way to the hundredth floor. No doubt Lisbeth had worked her magic on it, increasing it to it's possible +30, which had been unheard of for a weapon prior to the bow.

The tight look on her face spoke of the aftereffects of horror. A smudge of shock still resided on her face, though resolve had replaced most of it. She had already started to pull out a broadhead arrow. It would no doubt be sailing towards Heathcliff's face soon.

All of a sudden, the two bosses rushed the players. Heathcliff sped straight into the crowd, knocking players aside with his shield, running unnamed Holy Dragon Alliance members through with his sword. Kirito's body dashed at Klein and his former friends, his swords drawn.

By some miracle, Klein was hit by the flat of Dark Repulser and lost only minimal health. Unknown to the players, Kirito had actually flexed his phantom muscles as hard as possible to try and counteract Heathcliff's control over him, and it seemed to work, however slightly.

According to plan, Heathcliff and Kirito had separated, each fighting around a dozen other players. Of course, neither were having any trouble, Heathcliff's impenetrable defence serving him nicely. Kirito's twin swords cut light and dark arcs, slashing open ugly red wounds, but never actually reducing an HP bar to 0.

Did Kirito still have a little influence over his body? The thought was much too hopeful, but Sinon dwelled on it nonetheless. She nocked an arrow, but found herself unable to fire it.

That's not Kirito, her logic argued.

Yes, it is. Her heart responded.

Fire the damn arrow.

No _. I can't._

During this internal struggle, Sinon noticed that her friends were all avoiding the black swordsman in their own way, parrying and dodging his attacks, but never going on the offensive. Because of this, they were losing ground incredibly quickly, pushed back by his relentless dual-sword attacks. Agil seemed to grow impatient, and charged in to (presumably) deliver a disabling, but non-fatal hit. He wasn't as lucky as Klein, however, and Kirito's body lashed out, slashing a broad line across his chest.

The shock of seeing her lover so easily slash into his former friend juddered Sinon's brain, and somehow, she let the fletchings of the arrow she had nocked slip through her fingers. It slammed into Kirito's chest, leaving an unnatural perfect red circle. The sickening thud seemed to echo through the chamber, which had previously been filled with sword clashes and cries of pain. His health only dropped about a quarter from the critical hit to the heart, but due to the small annoyance, he'd set her as his target.

Faster than the eye could see, he'd rushed at her, his sword hovering at her throat. It seemed as if Kirito was gathering all of his willpower to prevent his avatar from chopping Sinon's head off, resulting in an instant kill. Sinon fell back, defeated. At this point, there was no way she'd be able to defeat him in combat. In fact, she severely doubted that the thirteen players gathered to fight him could've defeated Kirito as he was now; no holds barred.

Sitting on the floor, Sinon was sure that she was about to die. Kirito couldn't surpass Kayaba forever, and when he finally faltered, that would be the end of her story. In her final moments, she should've thought about something more meaningful, but instead she felt guilt. Would Kirito kill himself knowing that he'd been made to kill his girlfriend? She supposed she wouldn't be averse to that idea—that's what really caused her guilt. Finally, Kirito's will snapped, and Elucidator sliced towards her head, silencing her forever—

—Or so she thought. And she would've been right to think that, given the sharp sound of a blade cutting through virtual flesh. Yet, she wasn't dead… but who was? The flutter of white fabric filling her vision confused her for a moment. Then, everything dawned on her. Who had the nerve to wear a dress to a boss fight? Who had the ability to appear there as if the doors had never closed behind the clearers?

"Yui!" Sinon cried out.

The little girl Kirito and Sinon had adopted toppled onto her lap. It was a miracle she that hadn't been sliced clean in half at the waist, but her health was dropping fast. Sinon didn't have to be a genius to know that her time had come, and was about to go.

"Ma...ma."

And just like that, Sinon snapped. Kirito's death had caused her unimaginable pain, but now _Yui's?_

 _What had they done to deserve this?_

She collapsed just as Yui disappeared from her arms, whispering sweet nothings, dissolving into soft light.

 _I can't do this anymore._

She curled into a fetal position on the ground, eyes wide with grief, convulsing, shaking, shuddering, _crying, screaming, sobbing._ She welcomed death with open arms.

 _Kirito gave me life._

 _And now he will guide me to death._

But it—death—didn't come. In fact, she heard the achingly familiar sound of twin swords being inserted into their sheaths.

"Sinon… I—"

"D-don't. J... just _stop._ "

 _You aren't him._

She couldn't bring herself to look further than his black boots, so she focused her eyes on the ground. She was still noticeably shaking, grieving over the deaths of her two most precious people.

* * *

Kirito turned and flexed his fingers, finally in control again. His body still felt a little numb, but that was nothing compared to what his mind felt. It felt as if it had been microwaved, then frozen, and finally de-frosted in the same microwave. There was a mix of dull pain that he'd never experienced before, and the vague feeling of liquid tracing its way down his cheek. Would he ever be able to face Sinon again? In the distance, on the other end of the boss room, Kirito saw sparks flying—no doubt from the fight the other clearers were having with Heathcliff.

 _Akihiko Kayaba._ The source of all of his problems, the source of his pain, the _bane of his existence_. If he could avenge the thousands of players that had already died, that would justify Yui's… Right? He could feel the daggers being glared into his back, some in pity, some in disgust. The only thing that clouded his mind, however, was vengeance. He took of at a speed he'd never known, intending to reach Heathcliff as fast as possible to end his life.

He charged with every intent to run the platinum-haired man through, but somehow he was able to turn and block with his shield just in time.

"I see you've managed to escape the system. I commend you," Heathcliff spoke calmly, while parrying two other swords away. "But, I can't fight all of you." He snapped, and everyone instantly gained the 'paralyzed' debuff, falling to the ground. Everyone but Kirito.

Cries of outrage echoed all around him.

"Fight us like a man, you coward!"

"Don't die, Kirito!" (They must have realized that he was in control again, because otherwise they would have wished for his death as well.)

"Are you scared because you know you can't beat us?"

Knowing that the heckling of the crowd couldn't pummel Akihiko Kayaba into submission, Kirito drew his other sword.

"Fine. Me and you. Let's go." He growled and relieved Dark Repulser from Heathcliff, no, Kayaba's godly shield, jumping back several feet.

Not willing to give the paladin even a moment's respite, he charged forward to unleash a flurry of cuts and arcs. To his dismay (but what he expected, anyway), each was blocked effortlessly. Kirito jumped back again, and the two swordsmen circled each other, as if sizing one another up. Of course, Kayaba knew very well all of Kirito's abilities, and was merely waiting to see what he would do.

A second passed. Two, three. Finally, Kayaba, tired of waiting, charged forward, brandishing his shield to prevent Kirito from landing any lucky hits, and slammed him aside with its huge surface.

The air was knocked out of Kirito's lungs, leaving him stunned and winded on the ground. He'd never been aware that the system allowed the use of shields as a weapon. He was barely able to register the shadow of Kayaba's sword swinging, and rolled out of the way.

 _I'll never win like this,_ Kirito realized. If he wanted to win against the one who created this world, he'd need to be unpredictable. He thought of his friends; how they fought. Would he be able to adapt those styles to his own? Would he be able to catch god off-guard?

He managed to jump back a few more feet, leaving a decent distance between him and 'Heathcliff'. He charged forward with one sword, ready to stab all of the weak points he perceived in Kayaba's defence in quick succession, as Asuna would.

 _Bang! Bang bang bang!_ The stabs came quickly, though not as blindingly fast as a system-assisted combo would result in. He was successful in diverting the older man's shield, but because his other sword wasn't ready, he was forced to withdraw.

 _Crap._ He'd be expecting that tactic now. Who did that leave? Eclipse, with his last-minute sword-pulls. Klein, with his two-handed brute katana wielding. Sinon, with her range and her dagger.

He decided to take his chances with the two handed wielding. He sheathed Dark Repulser, and put both of his hands on Elucidator's relatively long grip. The clearers lying on the ground around him must've thought he was crazy, but he could feel the collective breath they held. Again he charged, and again, he managed to strike Kayaba's shield aside with a swift cut from the lower left to the upper right. This time, he tried to continue with a thrust straight to the chest, but the red paladin's sword knocked his aside. Kayaba chained the counter with an offensive move, cutting downwards decisively.

At the last possible second, Kirito drew Dark Repulser like Eclipse's special skill, and knocked the longsword away. Kayaba was completely open to attack now, giving Kirito an opportunity to step in under his guard. Both of his swords cut upwards, and Kayaba's armour cracked under the pressure, resulting in satisfying crunches.

That was as far as they went, however. Kayaba wasn't immobile, and leaped back. He wasted no time on returning to the offensive, charging forward and bringing his sword down with all of his strength, forcing Kirito to counter with the dual blades X-block skill.

This left them in a tense sword-lock.

"You're not going to win." Kirito grit his teeth, his shoulders screaming.

"How can you be so… _sure_!?" On the last word, Kayaba poured whatever was left of his strength down onto Kirito's swords, causing him to fall back, arms and knees to collapsing.

The blood-red armoured man stood over him, HP still in the green. It seemed that his victory was inevitable, but there was one last chance… One final maverick that may have been able to turn the tables.

In a gamble for his life, Kirito hurled Elucidator at Kayaba with a yell. Getting off the floor, he readied Dark Repulser for the opening that surely would be created. Kayaba, caught off guard by the move, lost his balance and began to fall backwards. Kirito took his chances. Stepping forward, he aimed Dark Repulser's tip right at Kayaba's heart, the two distinct crunches telling him that he had punctured the man completely.

However, the creator of Sword Art Online wasn't one to go down without a fight. His sword, too, entered Kirito's chest and exited through his spine.

Kirito coughed, the cold pain extending from the point of his injury all throughout his body. He should've seen something like this coming.

"So, this is how it ends?" Kayaba laughed. Though it was impossible, Kirito thought he saw the older man's lips glistening red. "I have to admit, even I didn't foresee everything you pulled in that fight."

"You managed to screw everything up," was all Kirito could choke out. His vast HP bar rapidly draining out, all his senses dulled. Is this what it was like to die in real life? He imagined that his past experience was probably quite a deviation from the status quo outside of the virtual world.

"It's not the first time I've heard that." Akihiko Kayaba managed a grim smile, and he broke into polygons.

His vision almost completely black, Kirito was barely aware that the sword had fallen out of his chest, and he'd collapsed into someone's arms.

"Come on, Kirito! Stay with me… Please, please, not you too! _Not again!_ _!_ " Kirito honestly hadn't anticipated Sinon's presence, but he took comfort being in her arms again. She should hate him for everything he'd done, for injuring several of the clearers, and, most of all, for killing Yui.

He felt his eyes grow heavy as Sinon's tears dripped on his face. In spite of everything, of all the grief, of all the suffering, he thought she was still incredibly beautiful.

 _What a last sight._

And finally, Kirito dissolved.

* * *

After that, Kirito really did expect to be dead. It seemed Kayaba, again, had other plans for him, however, as he awoke on a glass platform high up in the sky, far from the metal castle Aincrad. He sat up holding a hand to his head, where a throbbing ache resided.

"Well, I guess it's all over."

Kirito ran in the direction of the voice, forming a fist in hopes of socking Kayaba in the jaw. However, the white-coated man simply rematerialized a few meters away.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to fight you. I feel that it would only be right to tell you why I made this world. I made you and a lot of people suffer."

"Yeah, right." Kirito growled, "As if I'd listen to you."

"You don't have many options." Kayaba replied, tone grim. Fair point. "When I was little, I'd always dreamed about a gigantic metal castle, floating in the sky."

The black swordsman remained silent.

"I don't even remember what year it was; oh, how young I must've been to have such a foolish dream."

Kirito blinked. He hadn't expected Kayaba to start condescending himself.

"This whole time, I merely played god. I never actually was one. Now, I see that." Kayaba stared at his own shoes, as if he didn't have the courage to face the world. "I forgot why I trapped everyone here a long time ago. For a perfect system, people have overcome it so many times. Why couldn't I have just let them leave in peace? Alas, my pride wouldn't allow it. I never go back on a promise."

"That's sort of a sick promise." Kirito stared at the distraught man, who looked so much younger now that he appeared as himself. He couldn't have been older than thirty-five.

"A promise nonetheless, Kirito. I do not ask that you forgive me, but I must offer you official congratulations. Good job clearing the game. Currently, the remaining three-thousand six-hundred and thirty-seven players are being logged out, slowly but surely."

Kirito breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over.

"The final task of Argus's servers was to delete everything on the SAO servers when the game was cleared. As you can see," Kayaba gestured to the metal castle floating not a kilometre away, "It's doing just that." The first floors began to crumble and break apart, falling into the void.

"I must be going now. Good-bye, Kirito."

Kayaba turned, and as he walked, dissolved into fog which blew away with the wind.

Having nothing more to say, Kirito walked to sit on the edge of the glass platform, swinging his legs over the nothingness below. Before he could ponder his loneliness for long enough, he registered another sound; the sound of a teleport completing behind him. He couldn't see her, but he felt her graceful steps coming closer and closer, before Sinon sat next to him, a respectable distance away.

 _Wait a minute._

" _Sinon?!"_ His heart beat wildly—why was she here?

 _Did she die?! No, she couldn't..._

"I jumped off of Aincrad. There was nothing left for me." She hesitated, before speaking again, taking a shaky breath. "You know… The last thing she said to me was: 'don't be mad at papa'."

"I…" He felt like crying, gratified that Yui's last words would be so considerate to the murderer she once knew as "dad".

"But how could I not be mad? She was _our daughter,_ Kirito." In contrast to her words, Sinon's expression was tired, resigned, and lacked the hatred that he expected from her. She had every right to be angry, to _scream_ at him, but she didn't.

"Look… I _failed_ you, Sinon. I know that. I failed everyone. I-I'll never forgive myself. But Kayaba had me—"

"I know, god damn it! I know! I just… I can't think straight right now." Sinon shook her head, as if trying to clear the fog. It only made her more disoriented. "I'm not sure what to think. If I should be happy that it's over, or if I should be sad, because Yui's gone… Or if I should be mad! Everything is just so fucked up!"

"Hey… We got through it." Alive, he wanted to add, but he was a little hesitant. He knew that Kayaba had kept him from dying, but Sinon had freaking _jumped._ His logic told him that the man must have interfered and stopped her HP bar from lowering to 0, instead sending her to him as she fell off of Aincrad.

HP bar lowering to 0...

Kirito's eyes widened in realization, remembering—he was reduced to tears, relieved laughter shaking his entire body.

"Why the _hell_ are you laughing?" Sinon asked, incredulous.

"Remember back when I prevented Yui from being deleted from the system?" Kirito looked at her, an ecstatic shine gleaming in his eyes. "I also managed to send a copy of her core programming to my NerveGear's local storage, which means…" He beckoned for her to finish the sentence.

"Which means— _Kirito_ _!_ Oh my God, w-we haven't lost her!" For the first time in a week, she relaxed. She felt her shoulders loosen and slump, as if a weight had been removed from them. Sinon wasn't sure whether to slap Kirito or kiss him—he was infuriating that way. Yet she loved every bit of it. For the idiot that he was… He sure knew how to keep their lives together. She settled for shifting closer to him, and leaned into the crook of his neck. After everything, she was exhausted. Not just physically; she was emotionally drained as well. She couldn't cry anymore, even if she wanted to. The tears had just stopped coming, as if her tear ducts had said, _Yep, okay. You've reached your yearly limit of waterworks, no more for you._

The two just watched as Aincrad cracked, shifted and broke, floor after floor, piece by piece falling through the sky into an endless pit. Kirito caught a glimpse of their home, broken in half by the earthquakes (or castle-quakes), beginning to drop and join the rest of the debris. Suddenly, the huge world of Sword Art Online felt very empty.

"In that fight—throwing your sword like that—you're _insane._ Your impulsiveness will bite you back in the ass one day." Knowing that they weren't in any immediate danger anymore, Sinon allowed herself to giggle.

"Hey, it _worked_." Kirito huffed. "And I took inspiration from a good knife-thrower I know _._ " At this, Kirito flashed his trademark grin.

Sinon wiped the annoying expression off his face with a kiss. Finally, everything felt right. A wild fire roared in her chest, warming her frozen emotions. Multiple days' worth of determination, of angst and _fear_ flooded out of her being, nonexistent. What was supposed to be a simple kiss turned into its own sort of dance, each half fighting for dominance.

She never wanted the moment to end, but she couldn't breathe and was soon forced to break away. The sun began to swoop low and disappeared behind Aincrad, leaving the couple basked in a beautiful orange glow.

Once again, Sinon leaned her head on Kirito's shoulder. They watched the glowing orb of light disappear behind Aincrad, and everything was perfect once more. Finally, they were enveloped in white light, and began to disappear.

"See you on the other side," Kirito smirked once more, and the two disappeared from the virtual world, together.

* * *

Sinon awoke to a constant annoying beep. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Through the visor of her NerveGear, she could see the sterile white walls and ceiling of a hospital room. A bag of saline solution in the corner of her peripheral vision told her that she'd been kept alive by means of an IV drip for two years. _Ugh. Gross._

She tried to sit up, but was surprised by the weakness of her muscles, and the intense pang of hunger. Eventually, she managed to prop herself up against the wall. She looked at her emaciated hands without interest, an IV needle taped into her left wrist. _I look like a skeleton._

Finally, her mind came to rest on one thought. _Kirito… Where are you?_

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, I lied. There might be a *small* epilogue coming soon for all ye unsatisfied ones out there. But yeah, let's talk about more important things now, shall we? So I think the poll is still up on my profile page (I haven't checked it in a while,) but it allows you guys to vote on my next project. So far, the majority is asking for a sequel to Swords and Bows, but I'll give you all another week to vote. Aaaaaaand... Go!

Back from voting now? Alright! I wanted to extend thanks to, well, everyone! Crimiduck, for being a long-time beta (Chapter 5-17, I think.) Great job! Reaper2908 for getting me out of those intellectual ruts. I was really in a pinch around Chapter 12-13, hah! TMOTC for beta'ing this last chapter here! (Sorry, Crimiduck! No hard feelings! My gmail died for a while, and I thought: screw it, let's send it to TMOTC.) You did fantastic, thanks! Final thank-you to RStyle for keeping me company during some long hours just writing away. (This chapter went through like... 3 revisions before you even got it, TMOTC.)

Big hurrah to the community for reading, reviewing, favouriting and follows! It's thanks to you guys that Swords and Bows has over 25k views. Never expected that to happen!

So there it is. It's pretty satisfying to _finally_ be able to put the [Complete] tag on one of my works. Thanks for sticking around guys, it's been fun! Don't worry, I'll be back.

Soon.

(I hope.)

Until next time, my friends.

-TheSilentSwordsman


	19. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

"You okay back there?" Shino spoke, slightly amused, as Kazuto tried to push her along.

"Just… Fine." With the tone of his voice, she could tell that he was straining. The rehabilitation process was long and hard, but there was no way around it. Kazuto had just gotten the O-K to walk a cane- one that he refused to use, no less. Shino was still barely confined to a wheelchair, being able to walk short distances by herself.

It was probably easier than walking on his own, though. He still had something to lean his weight on.

The park path they were slowly traversing was covered in a thin layer of white, fluffy snow. Sinon had all but forgotten how the frost bit her nose, how she could breathe clouds into the air. She supposed she could let Kazuto suffer for a bit- after all, he did need to build up the correct muscles to be able to walk again.

A much needed silence allowed her to think. A few days ago, she'd tried returning to her apartment, only to find that it had been rented out by someone else. She'd managed to salvage most of her belongings from the new tenant, thankfully. She wasn't sure whether to be understanding- her parents had most likely never received the notice that she was stuck in Sword Art Online… And even if they had, knowing them, they most likely assumed she had died. Shino definitely wasn't ready to contact them yet- they'd definitely have a few alarming choice words to describe her stupidity. _Eventually,_ she decided. _For now, I'll just enjoy my life with Kazuto._

A single snowflake falling on her nose snapped her attention back to reality. They had made their way through the path's end. In the evening light, the abstractly-shaped windows of Kazuto's house glowed brightly. The soft pink over the horizon naturally changed to orange as Kazuto seemed to finally acclimate to walking in his crippled state.

"Hey. Do you ever miss it?" Shino intoned, curious.

"Miss what?" Kazuto replied, less out of breath than before.

"Aincrad," she said, simply.

Kazuto laughed. "I miss being able to walk properly." Then he paused, thinking. "Actually- I miss the forests… I miss the lake. I miss Yui." His voice broke.

"I'm confident that you'll figure something out. You've still got her stored in your NerveGear, right?" Shino asked, confirming that their once-perfect family was still in reach.

"Yeah- took a while to convince the police not to confiscate my NerveGear. Eventually, we'll get her back," Kazuto grumbled.

At this, a lock of black hair fell in the way of her eyes. Aside from the customary trim the hospital had given her, she hadn't invested any time in getting her hair to look normal again. It fell down her shoulders and back to her waist, longer than it had ever been. A few bangs always fell over her eyes, and she'd already developed the habit of sweeping them behind her ear. She had a sneaking suspicion that if she still had blue hair and put it in twin ponytails, she'd look a lot like Hatsune Miku- a once-popular vocaloid character. Kazuto's had been cut short, resembling his hair before the death game by pure luck.

Kazuto pulled the door handle and pushed the door open, simultaneously helping Shino out of the wheelchair. The smell of freshly steamed rice and several other dishes wafted through the air- no doubt Suguha's cooking.

"Sugu! We're home!" He called inside, as Shino leaned on him for support. Slowly, the two hobbled inside. Suguha Kirigaya rushed past them to pull Shino's wheelchair up the step in front of the door, pulling the door closed as she did.

"How'd rehab go, guys?" Kazuto's younger sister asked, as the three of them walked into the kitchen.

Kazuto sat down at the table in the middle of the room with a heavy sigh. "They told me I could walk on a regular basis now." He flashed his trademark smirk at Shino, and she merely rolled her eyes. "Shino's still stuck in that wheelchair."

"Hey, I can wa-"

"Nuh-uh, doctor's orders!" Kazuto teased. Again, Shino rolled her eyes. Suguha giggled at the banter, genuinely happy for her brother. She couldn't help but feel jealous, though, and subsequently felt guilty for feeling jealous. Before he'd been trapped in SAO, Kazuto rarely ever talked to his younger sister. During the two years, she'd found out that Kazuto had been adopted. Everything made much more sense: why they suddenly had a falling out one day, and nothing had ever been the same. After he woke up again, Sugu finally thought that they might be able to start over- they might be able to go back to the way it was- but it didn't seem as if that was about to happen, with Shino in the picture.

They ate in silence, Kazuto digging into his food while the girls tried to remain dignified. Suguha made _really_ good stir-fry.

Finished, Kazuto put his dish in the sink, and managed to crawl the stairs up to his room. Lazily, he jabbed a button on his computer, and his three monitors came to life, displaying his old desktop picture- an ink-blotch rendition of Aincrad. The sight filled him with nostalgia- just as it had every time he'd booted up his computer over the past six days. It was the last thing he'd seen before diving into the virtual world, after all.

When they had woken up in the hospital, all of Japan rejoiced. Almost four-thousand of their lost population were rejoining them, and among them, family, friends and lovers. It wasn't long until Kazuto and Shino had their first official meeting, introducing themselves with their real names, doing away with 'Kirito' and 'Sinon'. He frowned a little, remembering how Shino had teased him about being uncreative.

Through his open door, he heard the sounds of Sugu struggling to help Shino up the stairs. He'd have to thank his little sister profusely after the whole affair was over with- she'd been working hard to take care of the both of them for a week, and likely would for a few more. Soon after, Shino all but stumbled through the doorway, barely managing to sit on his bed- which they were forced to share, not that there were any objections.

He turned from the news article he was reading, and glanced at her. In the moonlight that was beginning to filter through his large window, her long, raven-black hair shined almost silver.

"You look really good with long hair," was all he could stutter out, after realizing that she was staring at him, too.

"It's kinda inconvenient." She remarked, brushing a loose strand behind her ear.

Absentmindedly, Kazuto pressed the sleep button on his computer. The screens dimmed, before fading completely, leaving the room lit by nothing but the soft white of the moon. Already being changed into his pyjamas- a simple black shirt and matching black pants, he crawled onto his bed next to Shino. They had both gained enough weight that he no longer felt like she might break if he held her too firmly.

Quietly, she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. With that, the two fell asleep in a tangle of limbs.

* * *

When Shino awoke in the morning, it was to periodical clicks, and fingers hammering away at a keyboard. Apparently, his hands had recovered enough that Kazuto was already able to type like a madman again. Spread across the monitors were pictures of a decrepit, dark city, though it was filled with people. She held her breath, seeing that all of them were holding guns of various sorts. She squeezed her eyes shut, sensing an oncoming panic attack. She turned over, barely able to fend it off.

"Hm? Oh, you're awake?" Kazuto turned in his chair to look at her. Slowly, she sat up, some of her hair still stuck to the pillow.

Careful to not look at his computer screen, Shino began as calmly as possible, "Yeah. What are you looking up?"

"O-oh." Kazuto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's… Um, a new VRMMO?"

Shino blinked, shocked that Kazuto would be eager to go back to the NerveGear after what had just happened to him.

"Yeah," he continued, sensing her disbelief. "I think it's the only way we'll be able to get Yui back. This article says that the framework is pretty similar to SAO- and if it is, it'll be able to read Yui's data files."

"Right." Shino agreed, though cautiously. She wanted to see Yui again, but wasn't overly excited by the idea of diving back into the virtual world so soon. "So… What's it called?"

Kazuto looked her in the eyes, the tiniest hint of a glimmer of happiness in them. "Gun Gale Online."

* * *

 **A/N:** You thought it was over! Hah! It wasn't! But now it is... So, I decided to do an epilogue for this because that ending didn't really wrap things up, and/or set things up for the sequel that will be coming soon(tm). Anyway, I really hope that my absence doesn't last too long... (Which it will, because I'm away from home for two weeks... Then another three weeks after that.) Alright, here's to hoping that you've enjoyed!

TheSilentSwordsman, signing off.


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